National Oceanographic Data Center's Coastal Water Temperature Guide (CWTG)Entry ID: NODC_CWTG
Abstract: The water temperatures in the NODC Coastal Water Temperature Guide
(CWTG) web pages tables are present temperatures
and climatological averages based on observations from NOAA/National
Ocean Service (NOS) tide stations and NOAA/National
Data Buoy Center (NDBC) buoys.
These average water temperatures were computed from long-period
records ranging from several years to several decades
depending on ... how long observations had been taken at a given
station. Although ocean conditions vary from year to year, water
temperatures are less variable than air temperatures, so these
averages can provide useful information for planning beach activities
such as swimming or fishing. For the Gulf coast, only monthly
averages are presented. Water temperatures vary more along the
Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, so for these
stations two-week averages are presented from April through October.
Clicking on the hyperlinked "Present Temperatures" in
the table will display time series plots of the last few hours of NOS
Water Temperature data for the tide station, or will go to the NDBC
Buoy Page for the location.
Temperature tables (except Hawaii, Alaska, and Pacific
Islands table) were originally created in the early 1980s by former
NODC meteorologist Richard M. DeAngelis. Hawaii, Alaska,
and Pacific Islands table values based on NOAA/NOS publication
"Surface Water Temperature and Density, Pacific Coast, North and
South America & Pacific Ocean Islands."
The CWTG was created by Mr. Don Collins and maintained by
Dr. L. Charles Sun and Ms. Debria Hayes.
Distribution Media: On-line
Role: DIF AUTHOR
Email: gsfc-gcmduso at mail.nasa.gov
Extended Metadata Properties
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Creation and Review Dates
DIF Creation Date: 2000-02-18
Last DIF Revision Date: 2016-11-18