Thursday, July 21, 2011

Hottest Air / Coldest Water Temps of the Season

Next Swims: Thursday (7/21) 6PM, Friday (7/22) 5:45AM & 6PM

Last Swims: Wednesday (7/20) 6PM, Thursday 5:45AM

Wednesday 6pm Conditions:
Water Temp: 65 (cooler away from shore)
Air Temp: 96
Crew: The Patriarch, Diablo, Gumdrop, Slip-n-Slide, Crash, Beth, David, Jeff, Mike and 2 others

Thursday 5:45am Conditions:
Water Temp: 47.3
Air Temp: 82
Waves: Calm
Water Clarity: crystal clear
Thursday 5:45am Crew: The Patriarch, Diablo, Beth, David, Ben, Capt'n

The Lady of the Lake has always prided herself in being totally unpredictable. Despite 4 consecutive days of high temps in the 90's, yesterday's day time high being the warmest since 1995 and an overnight low in the 80's we were surprised this morning to find that the water temp reading a few feet off of the Klode's south shore measured just 52. After walking the plank an enduring a painfully cold swim up to the Garage and back we were shocked to experience even colder water. A later Captn-o-meter reading 15ft from shore revealed that the water temp was actually 47!

As depressing as this may sound you only need to read back a few blog entries to find that drastic water temperature swings this season are becoming common. On Monday 7/11 at 6pm the water temp read just 52. The next morning it was 63 and by Thursday it was 68. (....and that was without the benefit of exceptionally hot air temps!) On Wednesday 7/8 the water temp measured 56 and the next day it was 68.

Of course those who have been swimming with us long enough know all too well that it seems every year we do go through a stretch of several weeks where water temps take plunge and then take weeks to recover. (ala 2 years ago where the Pirates Plunge was cancelled after water temps spent several weeks hovering around 50.)

Could this be the beginning of one of those long cold stretches or might this just be a momentary hiccup? While it's hard to say the one thing that's certain is that the warm water is out there....it's just a matter of when it will return.

Without the benefit of an east wind to blow the warm water back over to us it's unlikely that the water in Klode's bay will warm up considerably before this evening's swim.....but....with a forecasted high today of 91 and plentiful sunshine it's entirely possible that the surface water may warm up nicely and provide for a pleasant swimming experience this evening. If you were contemplating swimming this evening I'd encourage you to still come out. If anything, we'll have some Killepitsch on hand to warm the spirits of the crew. :)

3 comments:

crash said...

The two others from last night's (Wednesday's) swim were Dawn and Ann. Ann swam without a wetsuit too! Just happened to come down on a whim. Wow!

Jeff said...

Does anyone have a boat to take us 10 miles out into lake michigan where, according the "Coastwatch", the lake temps are in the 70s? I was getting ready to swim this morning until I realized that it was trash day...those guys come early in WFB. Needless to say, I'm glad I didn't waste the 20 minutes total of driving to klode, walking down to the lake, deciding the lake is too cold, walking back up the hill, driving back home.

Dawn D. said...

Anne and I were so glad to have run into you. Thank you for introducing us to the group. Anne and I plan on joining you next Monday and Wednesday evening (6PM)... that is if you will be swimming at that time. Looks like everyone has nicknames, we'll have to work on that. Feel free to chime in and give us some. :-)