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Welcome to BeachHunter.net |
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What is the Daily Beach Report? |
| Note: The daily beach report forum has been discontinued because of automated spammers interfering with its operation. I'm working on a new format for this service. |
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| Florida's Gulf Coast
beaches experience very mild conditions for most of the year. But
conditions that surfers like may not be the same conditions for a day at
the beach with your small children or elder parents or grandparents. So it
is important to know what the beach conditions are before you pack up the
car and head out to the beach. Water temperatures can dip as low as the upper 50's during cold snaps and can rise into the mid 90's in the heat of summer. See the chart below for AVERAGE water temperatures along the Gulf Coast.
Air temperatures are even more variable. Summer sees daily highs on the beaches of 88 to 92F, and lows in the low 80's. During cold snaps between December and March the beach can often be very windy and cold, with daytime highs only in the upper 50's or low 60's Fahrenheit. With a cold north or westerly wind, it can feel very cold out on the exposed beach and the pounding surf keeps everyone out of the water except wet-suited surfers. Between cold snaps, the temperature can easily climb into the upper 70's or low 80's, even during January and February. Warm winter days sometimes bring fog that hugs the coast. On the mainland the fog may lift by noon, but the beach may stay fogged in for days. I've been surprised many times on a warm spring day that appeared to be a perfect beach day, only to find a thick fog enveloping the beach upon my arrival. Water clarity changes almost daily, with April and May often producing the clearest water with the most beautiful colors. Some years the red tide can be a problem on some beaches, so its important to stay up-to-date on red tide conditions. Red tide often produces fish kills and respiratory irritation in humans. Jellyfish are rarely a problem on the lower Gulf Coast Beaches, and neither are sharks. Stingrays are a constant concern and require awareness. For information on beach hazards that you need to be aware of, download my ebook on beach safety. Generally, the further south you go in Florida, the warmer is the water and the climate. A cold blustery day on Honeymoon Island off the coast of Dunedin might result from a cold snap that didn't quite make it to Naples, for instance. On that same day, Naples might be basking under a bright sun with temperatures in the mid 70's and a light breeze. There are several cameras on the beaches that transmit daily images to the web. Web-cams, as they are called, are notorious for not working all the time. I have links to all of the beach web-cams I know of in the daily beach report. I look at them often. They are very helpful when they are working. What I'm trying to create with this Daily Beach Report is a centralized location where beach conditions can be reported, so people don't have to search all over the web. It may take a while to develop fully, but I believe it is worth the effort. --BeachHunter |