Hood Canal or the Med?

[Sababa]

Heading down Hood Canal for the first time we stopped off in Pleasant Harbor and were astonished to find the water temperature sensor (three feet below the water line) reading almost 80 degrees! We thought this might be some local anomaly, but we’re out in the channel now on our way to Alderbrook and we are still reading 75. I know the sensor isn’t broken because we went in and it was heavenly!

None of the cruising guides or weather web sites report Pleasant Harbor or Hood Canal in general as being swimmable apart from Twanoh State Park. Is this a freak event this year, maybe due to El Niño, or is it usually like this in summer and nobody has found out?

 

[tiltrider1]

Hood canal, Quarter Master Harbor, and south sound have been known for being warmer than the rest of our local waters. This is why these areas are full of oysters. Add to that our incredibly hot June and you should already have August water temperatures.

 

[Sababa]

Hood canal, Quarter Master Harbor, and south sound have been known for being warmer than the rest of our local waters. This is why these areas are full of oysters. Add to that our incredibly hot June and you should already have August water temperatures.

We’ve been to the South Sound in August during a hot summer and the water has never been close to this warm. I’ve not seen better than 65 down around Case Inlet for example. We are still 10 miles from the bend and the temp is now 76 in mid channel. No complaints though!

 

[Larry M]

When we were based in Puget Sound, we had friends that lived over there with a 20' Mirage, go fast boat. I never thought we'd be water skiing in the PNW. An incoming tide was the warmest as the water covered the shallower bays. When you fell, you did notice the temperature gradient though. This was 25 YEARS AGO.

 

[Sababa]

When we were based in Puget Sound, we had friends that lived over there with a 20' Mirage, go fast boat. I never thought we'd be water skiing in the PNW. An incoming tide was the warmest as the water covered the shallower bays. When you fell, you did notice the temperature gradient though. This was 25 YEARS AGO.

We’ve experienced the temporary warm water with the incoming tide up at Warm Beach near Stanwood. This ain’t that. We are nearing the bend now and the temperature is now pushing 77 at the keel in 300 feet of water. Insane!

 

[SeaDogAK]

El Niño definitely makes the water warmer. I’ve found the water warm enough to swim in Sitka during an El Niño summer. Factor in a big helping of climate change and you’ve got what you’ve got. It might feel nice but it’s not good news for local marine life.

 

[Ka_sea_ta]

I'm pretty sure when you look at the length of the canal, you'll see that the same water moves in and out with the tides it never really gets exchanged with the cooler water in admiralty inlet. This is especially true as you get toward the end of the canal. Because of the lack of water changes with puget sound and the straits the deeper reaches of the canal also experience oxygen deprivation. The temperature phenomenon is very similar to what you see in parts of desolation sound.

 

[Sababa]

I'm pretty sure when you look at the length of the canal, you'll see that the same water moves in and out with the tides it never really gets exchanged with the cooler water in admiralty inlet. This is especially true as you get toward the end of the canal. Because of the lack of water changes with puget sound and the straits the deeper reaches of the canal also experience oxygen deprivation. The temperature phenomenon is very similar to what you see in parts of desolation sound.

That’s what I figured, but everybody knows that Desolation Sound is swimmable in the summer. But look at the Pleasant Harbor State Park web site and it says “bring your dry suit.” None of the cruising guides mention that the salt water is swimmable in the summer apart from at Twanoh State Park. It’s peak season and there are next to no boats down here. I don’t understand how this isn’t better known.

 

[Bmarler]

That seems unusually warm to me. I did some scuba diving in hood canal many years ago and it seemed much colder than that to me. I was in a full suit there all the time. If it was 70 degree water I would have used shorty.
Those warm temps can’t be good for the health of the canal, must be promoting algae blooms.

 

[huruta]

We were at pleasant harbor a few weeks ago on the state park dock (the only ones) and had a wonderful time jumping in the water. Not sure what the temp was but it was not super cold and so much fun! We live on Chuckanut bay, we were out on SUPs yesterday and there’s was probably 5 degree variation between water close to shore and further out. NOAA says 49f but it’s definitely warmer than that.

 

[Comodave]

I don’t know about the PNW but I saw a news report about how warm the water is around Florida. Climate change…

 

[tiltrider1]

The water temp in the PNW is generally 49 degrees F. Desolation Sound, Hood Canal, Quartermaster Harbor and a few other select areas warm up to the mid 70’s during the summer.

June to the first week of July is usually cold and wet. This year has been very different. June was hot and sunny and so was July. Water temps that are not normally seen until mid August are already here. If the July, August normal weather pattern continues then we will probably break records for water temps.

Global Warming or El Niño or both?

 

[C lectric]

My understanding from my book about the features of our coast.

A lot depends upon the bottom contours, the shorelines, the inlet mouth, and a generally constant width and depth so no strong currents develop from those features..

If those features are relatively consistent then the water can get much warmer than close by water bodies that have features that cause a lot of mixing and churning of water through the tidal range.

Basically for inlets such as these the tidal waters simply rises and falls without the churning that rough or narrow or shallow passages present.

Pendrell Sound in Desolation Sound has those relatively even features so the water can and does warm up. Makes a good swimming area, a good oyster growing area.

 

[Carl Martin]

We've just been through the warmest June in recorded history & July looks to be just as bad. While the warmer water may be pleasant to swim in it's very bad news for marine life.

 

[Darlin]

Hood Canal is known for having a fresh water lid that is noticeably warmer and less salty than the water below. This water is visible as mirage like to a depth of 10 ft where the saltier water suddenly becomes clear and cold. I dove the canal many times and this phenomena is well known to local divers.