2 of my friends and I decided to take a dip at 9:30 PM. I was expecting it to be freezing but it was actually warmer than it was when i went in during the day on Sunday.
My friend, using his logic, said it was because the sun heated it up during the day causing it to be warmer at night. I find that hard to believe.
Enlighten me please. :D
2007-08-01 06:43:32 · 4 answers · asked by The Boss Sound 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
Hahaha. I don't think that was the case. :D
2007-08-01 06:50:53 · update #1
I think the sun does heat up the water during the day, but I think the main reason it feels warmer at night is because it's warmer than the air at night so it feels relatively warm. I'm not sure if this would be true other places, but in Southern California the nights are usually cool. I've always noticed the same thing, and I don't think the water temperature is changing very much, but the air temperature definitely drops when the sun sets.
I'm not sure what the guy was trying to say about El Nino, but the areas of warm water associated with El Nino are not located off of California, they're in the equatorial Pacific and off of Peru.
2007-08-01 17:05:16 · answer #1 · answered by pegminer 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sea surface temperature in the eastern Pacific is impacted by solar heating (of course) and transoceanic ocean currents. There are currents which span the world. In your area you might be getting some of that current from the Southern Hemisphere below the equator where the water is very warm. The ocean current in your area is called El Niño (translation: The Christ Child). However, it shows up around Xmas and disappears around June the latest. Maybe its still hanging around? Was the surface temp. about 70 degs F? If El Niño is still around the eastern Pacific then that is BAD news for the USA (even the world). We get bad storms even in NE USA all because of the El Niño affect...
I wonder if the greenhouse effect is causing this. You know "global warming"?
2007-08-01 07:46:33 · answer #2 · answered by Dr. Knowl Itall 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your friend is correct. The water retains the warmth from the Sun even when the Sun has gone. The warmth takes longer to disappear in water than on many other surfaces.
2007-08-01 06:52:59 · answer #3 · answered by Tom S 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe one of your friend's peed and you found a "warm spot".
2007-08-01 06:47:21 · answer #4 · answered by zsmom 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋