Hot cities or cold cities; 4 seasons or no seasons; desert cities or green cities?

[Steely Dan]

^ big sharks can be very scary, but in terms of real dangers to swimmers, accidental drownings are a far bigger concern.

Average US drowning deaths: 4,000

Average US fatal shark attacks: 1

[Crawford]

People drown all the time. The Michigan side of Lake Michigan has so many summer drownings, it barely makes the news. 53 drownings in summer 2020. Don't mess with mother nature, especially if you're inebriated or your swimming skills suck.

[Steely Dan]

^ yep, on average there are roughly 100 drowning deaths in the great lakes each year, with nearly half of those on Lake Michigan due to its very dangerous sand-bar/rip current situation.

Many people hear the word "lake" and think "how dangerous can a lake be?", but too many unsuspecting people swim at lake michigan beaches each summer completely unaware that the lake's currents and winds can build up massive near-shore sand-bars that then break with very powerful and dangerous rip currents just like an ocean beach.

We swim at lakes Michigan beaches ALL summer long and I've been teaching my kids about rip currents and how to safely handle them since they could talk. I myself was caught in a Lake Michigan rip current as a young child and have my older sister to thank for possibly saving my life.

[edale]

I found myself in a rip current last summer at Manhattan Beach. It was very scary. Thankfully I knew to swim parallel to the shore to get out of it rather than try to fight the current head on, but it definitely was an eye opening experience for me. I much prefer pool swimming to the ocean or lakes!

[destroycreate]

I don't think I've swam in SoCal waters since I was a teenager. Way too cold for me. 71F is supposed to be nice? Yeah no, if it aint above 78F my balls are fully retreating into my body.

[eschaton]

My own experience with cold(er) water is I absolutely need to go all the way in and dunk my head under. After that, I'm not cold and can stay in for a long time. You just can't dip your toes in or something.

Mind you, I can't swim, so I'm just talking about walking out into the water.

[Steely Dan]

for reference, here's my water temperature swim guide:

- 55 is full-blown nuts without a wetsuit, cold shock can actually stun you to death at this temp.

- 60 is still totally fucking cold. Wetsuit required for anything other than a quick jump in/jump out dip.

- 65 is doable for hardier individuals without a wetsuit for short spurts, but you will still need to get out periodically to prevent hypothermia.

- 70 is still pretty chilly, but you can warm up to it. Experience helps.

- 75 is nice and refreshing, a lovely temp for swimming on a hot summer day.

- 80 is bathwater.

- 85 is almost getting too warm, not very refreshing on a really hot summer day.


Source: a entire lifetime spent swimming in the great lakes.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by craigs

People saying Southern California water temps are so cold right now that you need a wetsuit are tripping. I just checked the water temperature at Newport Beach and it's 67 degrees. Farther south at La Jolla, the water is 71 degrees. What kind of snowflake needs a wetsuit to go into water like that?

I'm used to bath water temps of the Gulf or southern Atlantic off Florida. The Pacific at least here in California is too chilly.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by JManc

I'm used to bath water temps of the Gulf or southern Atlantic off Florida. The Pacific at least here in California is too chilly.

Oh, ocean temperatures near the Bay Area are frigid. You'll get no argument on that from me. I lived more than half of my life in San Francisco, and only got in the ocean three times.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by craigs

Oh, ocean temperatures near the Bay Area are frigid. You'll get no argument on that from me. I lived more than half of my life in San Francisco, and only got in the ocean three times.

I can swim at half moon bay for like 10-20 mins before I get too cold. Still better than Tahoe in June

[dave8721]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

for reference, here's my water temperature swim guide:

- 55 is full-blown nuts without a wetsuit, cold shock can actually stun you to death at this temp.

- 60 is still totally fucking cold. Wetsuit required for anything other than a quick jump in/jump out dip.

- 65 is doable for hardier individuals without a wetsuit for short spurts, but you will still need to get out periodically to prevent hypothermia.

- 70 is still pretty chilly, but you can warm up to it. Experience helps.

- 75 is nice and refreshing, a lovely temp for swimming on a hot summer day.

- 80 is bathwater.

- 85 is almost getting too warm, not very refreshing on a really hot summer day.


Source: a entire lifetime spent swimming in the great lakes.

I'll be snorkling off Key Largo next weekend. The current sea temp in Key largo: 86

For Florida, the Keys and the Gulf Coast are where the borderline hot water is found. The waters off Miami Beach are more refreshing by comparison (though still far warmer than most of the rest of the US)

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by dave8721

I'll be snorkling off Key Largo next weekend. The current sea temp in Key largo: 86

For Florida, the Keys and the Gulf Coast are where the borderline hot water is found. The waters off Miami Beach are more refreshing by comparison (though still far warmer than most of the rest of the US)

Yeah, South Florida waters in summer aren't what I'd necessarily call refreshing, but still cooler than the air and beautiful. For hot summer weather, I think North Carolina's Outer Banks have the best waters all around.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

I can swim at half moon bay for like 10-20 mins before I get too cold. Still better than Tahoe in June

Ever see any white sharks? I've seen a few down here in Carlsbad. Mostly juveniles, but once in a while the big adults come close to shore. A few years ago there was a fatal attack just south of Carlsbad (Encinitas I recall), and there have been at least two in La Jolla Cove. Rare but they do happen. I never swim in water near seal colonies. La Jolla has a seal colony at Children's Beach where the seals give birth. There are drone pics from above on YouTube showing how dense the juvenile white sharks are near many beaches. The juveniles mostly feed on fish before they switch to seals as they grow. When they become adults, they mostly move north of Pt. Conception, but there do appear to be big adult white shark populations at some of the Baja islands like Guadalupe and Cedros, and Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and especially San Miguel Islands off Santa Barbara County where there are big seal colonies that attract the adult sharks. San Miguel Island may have more white sharks than the Farallons. There are videos of big white sharks feeding on whale carasses off Catalina Island (the whales were hit by container ships on the way to L.A./Long Beach Harbors). The sharks were pigging out on the whale blubber.

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

Ever see any white sharks? I've seen a few down here in Carlsbad. Mostly juveniles, but once in a while the big adults come close to shore. A few years ago there was a fatal attack just south of Carlsbad (Encinitas I recall), and there have been at least two in La Jolla Cove. Rare but they do happen. I never swim in water near seal colonies. La Jolla has a seal colony at Children's Beach where the seals give birth. There are drone pics from above on YouTube showing how dense the juvenile white sharks are near many beaches. The juveniles mostly feed on fish before they switch to seals as they grow. When they become adults, they mostly move north of Pt. Conception, but there do appear to be big adult white shark populations at some of the Baja islands like Guadalupe and Cedros, and Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and especially San Miguel Islands off Santa Barbara County where there are big seal colonies that attract the adult sharks. San Miguel Island may have more white sharks than the Farallons. There are videos of big white sharks feeding on whale carasses off Catalina Island (the whales were hit by container ships on the way to L.A./Long Beach Harbors). The sharks were pigging out on the whale blubber.

Is there appropriate signage/warning markers in the areas you wrote about?

In this thread, some posters mentioned the dangers of swimming in Lakes and the Ocean due to the undertow. One of my best buddies died in Mexico while on vacation with his girlfriend on a beach with no markers.

[LA21st]

Last two days in Chicago feels like la weather.
It's been amazing!

[pico44]

As someone who loves Southern California dearly, and whose best friend lives there; I always have casual thoughts of moving there whenever I visit. But the list of reasons not-to is always vastly longer. One honest-to-goodness reason is how pathetic Californians are when it comes to uncomfortable weather. What’s hilarious is that they believe their massive pussydom is actually an elevated state of being.

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by pico44

As someone who loves Southern California dearly, and whose best friend lives there; I always have casual thoughts of moving there whenever I visit. But the list of reasons not-to is always vastly longer. One honest-to-goodness reason is how pathetic Californians are when it comes to uncomfortable weather. What’s hilarious is that they believe their massive pussydom is actually an elevated state of being.

The only time I visited California was in 1990. I enjoyed my trip, and get the attraction, too. My first morning visiting my girlfriend who was studying at Cal Poly in SLO brought some laffs… There were a couple of people, a girl, then a guy wearing gloves and winter hats while jogging (which generates heat, wouldn't You know?). Any old how, this was around xmastime, and the temps were like mid may here. Lol. Some of them need to toughen up.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by montréaliste

The only time I visited California was in 1990. I enjoyed my trip, and get the attraction, too. My first morning visiting my girlfriend who was studying at Cal Poly in SLO brought some laffs… There were a couple of people, a girl, then a guy wearing gloves and winter hats while jogging (which generates heat, wouldn't You know?). Any old how, this was around xmastime, and the temps were like mid may here. Lol. Some of them need to toughen up.

One of my former coworkers needed to go to Los Angeles around ten years ago for a legal case, and his wife decided to come along with their new baby and see some sights in LA while he was working. It was wintertime, and it was rainy and around 55.

Multiple people came up to her saying she should be ashamed letting a baby go outside in weather like that!

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by eschaton

One of my former coworkers needed to go to Los Angeles around ten years ago for a legal case, and his wife decided to come along with their new baby and see some sights in LA while he was working. It was wintertime, and it was rainy and around 55.

Multiple people came up to her saying she should be ashamed letting a baby go outside in weather like that!

Yes, why am I not surprised?

I mean, it's incredible the amount of living and working one actually does while residing in less than "ideal climes". One can actually eschew brush fires from those sweet Santa Ana winds, the droughts, the landslides, the earthquakes, and still survive…

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by montréaliste

The only time I visited California was in 1990. I enjoyed my trip, and get the attraction, too. My first morning visiting my girlfriend who was studying at Cal Poly in SLO brought some laffs… There were a couple of people, a girl, then a guy wearing gloves and winter hats while jogging (which generates heat, wouldn't You know?). Any old how, this was around xmastime, and the temps were like mid may here. Lol. Some of them need to toughen up.

Which is funny because, I've worked with transplants from Chicago and NYC, and it was often the case that during the winter, when we start working in the morning, they would often say "GOD it's COLD outside!!" They actually complained more than the LA natives. I really think that people get climatized to LA weather, and with LA natives, we're so used to the weather that any deviation up or down in temperature will present complaints. Also, I've noticed that unlike in many other cities in the rest of the US, nighttime and daytime temperatures can vary like 25-30 degrees. Kind of like yesterday; it reached about 91 degrees where I was in the afternoon, but then this morning it was in the upper 60s on my drive to work, which I thought felt perfect, but I can see how some people (like older people) might think to put a sweater on in the early morning.

Originally Posted by pico44

As someone who loves Southern California dearly, and whose best friend lives there; I always have casual thoughts of moving there whenever I visit. But the list of reasons not-to is always vastly longer. One honest-to-goodness reason is how pathetic Californians are when it comes to uncomfortable weather. What’s hilarious is that they believe their massive pussydom is actually an elevated state of being.

I don't know where you got that from; and just like your example, if anything, people outside of California are the ones that keep calling us pussies when it comes to weather.

Makes me wonder if Hawaiians get the same treatment from the rest of the US too.