Jersey Shore Ocean Hits Record Warm Temps
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (CBS) - The ocean water temperature this week is in the record books.
Wednesday's 83-degree measurement at the Atlantic City Marina (the National Weather Service puts the exact temperature at 83.3 degrees) broke the warmest-ever mark of 83.1 degrees, set in July 2011.
You don't even have to dip a toe in the water to feel its heat:
"One of the most noticeable things will be the sea breeze," says Anna Pfeiffer-Herbert, a professor of Marine Science at Stockton University. "In the later afternoon, the wind will pick up a lot and blow from the ocean onto the land, which tends to be nice because it's cooler."
Not so much now, with that breeze influenced by shallow, warm water close to land. Pfeiffer-Herbert says the impact also is felt by some ocean organisms:
"Any of those species that tend to be northern species get very stressed when the temperature goes this high."
She says they'll have trouble growing and reproducing.
For us, the sea fuels humid, unstable air, leading to thunderstorms. And conditions are more favorable for tropical systems to form.