Why is LA beach water cold?

The upwelling further cools the already cool California Current. This is the mechanism that produces California's characteristic coastal fog and cool ocean waters. As a result, ocean surf temperatures are much colder along the Pacific coast than the Atlantic coast.



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But on that same beach, it's not uncommon to see kids shivering as they run out of the water, or a surfer wearing a partial wetsuit as they jog out for a session. California's ocean water is pretty cold, even in the summer, and it often catches visitors off-guard.

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“So the reason why these beaches are usually dirty is mainly because of their limited water circulation, which leads to prolonged pollution near the shore,” Wu said. “This means the circulation is not enough to flush away all pollution when it happens.

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The water temperature in the ocean in Los Angeles varies throughout the year, but generally, it is warm enough to swim from late spring to early fall. The warmest months are typically July, August, and September, when ocean temperatures can reach into the low 70s Fahrenheit (low 20s Celsius).

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The Balboa Peninsula provides shelter from the open Pacific to make Newport Beach waters the warmest in California year round. But any beach in southern California during August has relatively warm water.

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