Frying Pan Shoals Lightship (Figure 17, Table 17) 



Surface temperatures during January, February and March match 

 air temperature anomalies where January and March were below and 

 February above normal. During these months salinities were quite 

 uniform and somewhat above the readings for the previous three years. 

 Mid-April saw a change in water, surface to bottom, which was indicated 

 by both temperature and salinity. From May onward temperatures were 

 above the mean until early December. 



During the past four years surface salinities at this station have tended 

 to lie between 35.5 and 3 6.5''/oo. Departures from this, in the form of 

 lowered values, occur when coastal water from the north is forced past 

 Cape Hatteras, as in the spring of 19 58, or when excessive rainfall 

 augments local runoff. Since there is little storage through freezing 

 over the adjacent inland watershed, surface salinities reflect precipitation 

 with only a slight lag, and depressed values can appear at any season. 

 Minimum salinities have occurred as early as April in 19 58 and as late 

 as November in 1956. The minimum for 19 59 was found in early August 

 as a result of heavy rainfall in July. 



