Dolphins aside, ocean temperatures take plunge
After setting record, surf off Atlantic City cools dramatically.
Our item about dolphin sightings at the Jersey Shore provided further evidence that waters just offshore have been quite warm.
Recall that last week, the temperature at the Atlantic City Marina reached a record 83.8.
Evidently, surf temperatures, like beauty, are only skin deep.
As of late Tuesday morning, the Atlantic City surf temperature had fallen to 68.4, a 15.4-degree drop.
After the record was set, a regime of winds predominantly from the southwest kicked in, and as former National Weather Service marine forecaster Jim Eberwine predicted, the warm layer was routed.
The current 68.4 is about 4 degrees below the normal level. Waters off Cape May stood at 74.5, which is about where they should be.
By contrast, Sandy Hook, where the surf would be shielded from the southwest winds, surf temperatures remain in the 80s.