II. CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMARY 



This section briefly summarizes the environmental conditions at the FRF 

 during the reporting period; complete tabulated summaries are contained in 

 Section V. 



The maritime climate at the FRF tends to moderate the seasons with winters 

 that are warmer and summers that tend to be cooler than on the mainland. Large 

 temperature differences between day and night occur during late fall and 

 spring due to the slow response of the ocean to changing temperature trends 

 and frequent land and sea breeze effects. Air temperatures at the FRF during 

 1978 and 1979 varied from a low of -7.8° Celsius in February 1979 to a high of 

 43.3° Celsius in July 1979. The annual average temperature was slightly less 

 than 16° Celsius. 



The precipitation was fairly well distributed throughout the year with a 

 monthly average of approximately 100 millimeters. May was the wettest month, 

 while August and October were the driest. 



Although warm in the summer and chilly in the winter, the sea breeze at 

 the FRF is persistent; seldom is there a dead calm. On occasion, severe winds 

 blow as a result of either extra-tropical (northeasters) or tropical (hurri- 

 canes) cyclones. The winds at the FRF are predominantly from the southwest. 

 Summer winds from the southwest frequently shift clockwise to the easterly 

 directions; winter winds are more often from the north and east, resulting 

 from arctic highs and tropical low-pressure systems that originate in the 

 Caribbean and move north along the coast. The winds in 1978 were predomi- 

 nantly from the southwest and northeast, while in 1979 there was more of a 

 southwest and northwest tendency. Extreme winds were generally from the 

 northeast. Although the FRF was not directly hit by a major hurricane in 1978 

 and 1979, strong northeasters produced high winds of more than 10 meters per 

 second in April 1978, February and December 1979. 



Although wave approach during the overall reporting period was predomi- 

 nantly from the south side of the FRF pier, during the winter months (October 

 through March) when the largest waves occurred a far greater percentage 

 approached from the north side of the pier. The average and the standard 

 deviation of the annual significant wave height, measured at the seaward end 

 of the FRF pier (median depth 8 meters), were 1.0 and 0.5 meter, respectively, 

 while the average annual significant wave period was 8.9 seconds with an 

 associated standard deviation of 2.6 seconds. The highest significant wave 

 height recorded was 3.3 meters in April 1978. 



The average tidal range during the reporting period was slightly more than 

 1 meter for the pier-end tide gage. The highest recorded water level was 127 

 centimeters above the 1929 National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD), which 

 occurred on 13 September 1979 during high wave conditions; the lowest water 

 level recorded was -95 centimeters below NGVD on 6 September 1979. The annual 

 (1979) average mean high water (MHW) and mean low water (MLW) levels were 60 

 and -43 centimeters (NGVD), respectively. 



The annual variation of the location of the MSL beach intercept covered a 

 34-meter range with the extreme positions being as near as 32 meters from the 

 dune on 30 November 1979 and as far as 66 meters from the dune on 17 August 

 1979. 



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