oddly cold water temperature in south florida

just looking for some information, maybe some leads or some ideas as to
the odd water temperature and visibility we're seeing in south florida
right now. For the last few days, water temperatures on the 1st and
second reef have been in their low-mid 70s, and in the low 60s past the
third reef. Visibility from the 1st to the 3rd reefs is absolutely
horrible(less than 10')

The morning dive was on the 1st reef, pompano mooring
balls(copenhagen). On top of the ledge, the temperature was in the
mid-high 80s and visibility was about par for the 1st reef(35' or so).
But there was a sharp thermocline at about 15' and the visibility went
to about 10-15' with lots of suspended junk(algae?) in the water, and
the temperature dropped to the mid-70s. We had a decent south current
(.5-1mph) tide was incoming for at least an hour. 2nd dive was very
near the first one, with similar conditions.


Afternoon 1st dive was the rodeo 25( appx 127feet to the sand).
Visibility on the surface was about 20' and water temperature was in
the mid 80s. at about 15' there was a thermocline, and the temperature
dropped to the high 60s and visibility went to nil with the same
conditions as the 1st reef, just suspended crap in the water. At about
100', the visibility cleared up to about 30', but the water temperature
was 61 degrees. We had a slight north current on the surface, almost no
current at depth. I didn't go on the second dive, so I don't have any
current or temperature reports, but they reported the visibility to be
less than 10'. The 2nd dive was a mixture of 2nd and 3rd reef drifts.

I know it was like this on friday too, I'll report on sunday. 3rd reef
wreck and drifts are planned.

Any ideas, theories, as to what is going on with the currents that
would cause this? Maybe a strange eddie in the gulf stream causing one
of the colder south-flowing deepwater currents to rise up? The captain
of the dive boat said something about them draining lake okeechobee,
but I have a hard time believing that small amount of water could
affect something as massive as the gulf stream. On top of that, with
the warm weather we've had and the shallowness of the lake, I doubt the
water being drained would be 61 degrees.

daniel

"daniel" <daniel@uwcorp.net> wrote in message
news:1150597459.807668.73780@g10g2000cwb.googlegro ups.com...
> just looking for some information, maybe some leads or some ideas as to
> the odd water temperature and visibility we're seeing in south florida
> right now. For the last few days, water temperatures on the 1st and
> second reef have been in their low-mid 70s, and in the low 60s past the
> third reef. Visibility from the 1st to the 3rd reefs is absolutely
> horrible(less than 10')
>
> The morning dive was on the 1st reef, pompano mooring
> balls(copenhagen). On top of the ledge, the temperature was in the
> mid-high 80s and visibility was about par for the 1st reef(35' or so).
> But there was a sharp thermocline at about 15' and the visibility went
> to about 10-15' with lots of suspended junk(algae?) in the water, and
> the temperature dropped to the mid-70s. We had a decent south current
> (.5-1mph) tide was incoming for at least an hour. 2nd dive was very
> near the first one, with similar conditions.
>
>
> Afternoon 1st dive was the rodeo 25( appx 127feet to the sand).
> Visibility on the surface was about 20' and water temperature was in
> the mid 80s. at about 15' there was a thermocline, and the temperature
> dropped to the high 60s and visibility went to nil with the same
> conditions as the 1st reef, just suspended crap in the water. At about
> 100', the visibility cleared up to about 30', but the water temperature
> was 61 degrees. We had a slight north current on the surface, almost no
> current at depth. I didn't go on the second dive, so I don't have any
> current or temperature reports, but they reported the visibility to be
> less than 10'. The 2nd dive was a mixture of 2nd and 3rd reef drifts.
>
> I know it was like this on friday too, I'll report on sunday. 3rd reef
> wreck and drifts are planned.
>
> Any ideas, theories, as to what is going on with the currents that
> would cause this? Maybe a strange eddie in the gulf stream causing one
> of the colder south-flowing deepwater currents to rise up? The captain
> of the dive boat said something about them draining lake okeechobee,
> but I have a hard time believing that small amount of water could
> affect something as massive as the gulf stream. On top of that, with
> the warm weather we've had and the shallowness of the lake, I doubt the
> water being drained would be 61 degrees.
>
> daniel
>
I dunno.......but as a hurricane enthusiast this is surely bad news.

daniel wrote:
> just looking for some information, maybe some leads or some ideas as to
> the odd water temperature and visibility we're seeing in south florida
> right now. For the last few days, water temperatures on the 1st and
> second reef have been in their low-mid 70s, and in the low 60s past the
> third reef. Visibility from the 1st to the 3rd reefs is absolutely
> horrible(less than 10')

Welcome to SoFla.

Offshore, we have the Gulf Stream, an upwelling from the
tropical Atlantic that moves north rapidly and swings in to and
out from shore. At the beach, we have a south current. In
between, we have an unpredictable mix of swirls and eddies. At
this time of year, cold water upwellings from deep water clash
with warming inshore waters. Result is that there are seasonal
trends (thermoclines in June and July) and hourly changes as
currents swirl, tides change, winds shift, etc.

The only truism in SoFla diving is that the conditions were
always better yesterday, ya shoulda been there.

m

mike gray wrote:

> The only truism in SoFla diving is that the conditions were
> always better yesterday, ya shoulda been there.

Negative. I was there, and it was worse.

There was a thermocline at 90 you could bounce rocks off of.

bullshark

haha... I found some information on the different currents, etc... I
didn't realise there were so many currents in the ocean at different
levels. All you hear about is the gulf stream. I found a site that
details 4 different currents in a single water column.

I've seen the currents switch around, even been on/past the 3rd reef
with a south current, I've just never seen a thermocline as drastic as
this one with the water as cold as it is. I've been diving in south
florida for about 3 years, now, I probably have about 350 dives or so
between the boca inlet and the tenneco towers, and just never have seen
it like this.

It was better today, we had a nw current for the most part, around the
Sea Emperor. Temperature was way up from yesterday, around 78-80
degrees, and visibility had improved to about 25feet. The third reef
just north of the sea emperor had about a 2 knot current coming over
the reef, almost due west, making it nearly impossible to get to the
east edge of it. I'm sure it was an eddy of some sort, it was more
NWish further south on the Sea Emperor.

I had kinda suspected a deep-water current being the culprit, just
couldn't find any information until earlier today. From what I read, it
could have been an eddy/swirl from any of at least 3 different
currents, 2 antarctic currents from the south, and the North Atlantic
Deep-water current fed by the gulf stream from the north.

thanks for the input, I'm going to consider this one solved, since
we'll never know for sure the reason, at least I have something to
explain it. You may return to your regularly-scheduled non-scuba
related discussion :)

daniel




mike gray wrote:
> daniel wrote:
> > just looking for some information, maybe some leads or some ideas as to
> > the odd water temperature and visibility we're seeing in south florida
> > right now. For the last few days, water temperatures on the 1st and
> > second reef have been in their low-mid 70s, and in the low 60s past the
> > third reef. Visibility from the 1st to the 3rd reefs is absolutely
> > horrible(less than 10')
>
> Welcome to SoFla.
>
> Offshore, we have the Gulf Stream, an upwelling from the
> tropical Atlantic that moves north rapidly and swings in to and
> out from shore. At the beach, we have a south current. In
> between, we have an unpredictable mix of swirls and eddies. At
> this time of year, cold water upwellings from deep water clash
> with warming inshore waters. Result is that there are seasonal
> trends (thermoclines in June and July) and hourly changes as
> currents swirl, tides change, winds shift, etc.
>
> The only truism in SoFla diving is that the conditions were
> always better yesterday, ya shoulda been there.
>
> m

On 18 Jun 2006 19:02:31 -0700, "daniel" <daniel@uwcorp.net> wrote:
<snip>

In other words, when diving in SoFL, there might be a current... It
might come from anywhere... It might be warm... It might be cold...

In other words, dive and deal with it... Works for me...

bullshark wrote:
> mike gray wrote:
>
>> The only truism in SoFla diving is that the conditions were
>> always better yesterday, ya shoulda been there.
>
> Negative. I was there, and it was worse.
>
> There was a thermocline at 90 you could bounce rocks off of.
>
> bullshark
>

Two weeks ago it was 60 on the lowrance, with a thermocline at about 90 ft


John

mike gray wrote:
>
> The only truism in SoFla diving is that the conditions were
> always better yesterday, ya shoulda been there.

I think what you meant was: "Ya shoulda been there next week".

84 degrees and from the far outside at 100 feet, we could see the
Bahamas.

Went with Leo, and as will happen every once in a while he, dropped us
where we've never dived. After 597 dives on Boynton, it never stops
surprising.

Found another patch of Staghorn too.

bullshark

bullshark wrote:

> mike gray wrote:
>
>>The only truism in SoFla diving is that the conditions were
>>always better yesterday, ya shoulda been there.
>
>
> I think what you meant was: "Ya shoulda been there next week".
>
> 84 degrees and from the far outside at 100 feet, we could see the
> Bahamas.
>
> Went with Leo, and as will happen every once in a while he, dropped us
> where we've never dived. After 597 dives on Boynton, it never stops
> surprising.
>
> Found another patch of Staghorn too.

Hope ya got the coordinates for Ed T.