The National Weather Service attributes the chill to upwelling
BY GARY ROBBINS APRIL 24, 2022 7:40 PM PT
The sea surface temperature at Mission Beach was 53 degrees at 10 a.m. Sunday, the lowest reading that’s been recorded at any San Diego beach in the past 19 years, according the the National Weather Service.
The water is typically 60 to 62 degrees in late April.
Forecasters attribute the big chill to upwelling. Strong onshore winds, mostly out of the northwest, have been hitting the coast for several days. Those winds push the warmer, upper layers of the ocean away from the coast, allowing colder, deeper water to rise to the surface.
The winds were gusting upwards of 15 mph along the coast on Sunday, blunting the weak offshore Santa Ana winds flowing out of the county’s foothills and mountains.
Coastal winds will remain gusty on Monday. But the Santa Anas will dominate, allowing the daytime high at San Diego International Airport to reach 82, or 13 degrees above average.
