PART II: CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMARY 



Climate 



8. The FRF enjoys a typical marine climate which moderates the ex- 

 tremes of both summer and winter. During the warmest month, July, the daily 

 high air temperature averages 30° C. Correspondingly, ocean water surface 

 temperatures tend to be highest during July through September, averaging over 

 20° C. Lowest air and water temperatures occur during February, averaging 

 less than 7° C and 5° C, respectively. 



9. Precipitation is generally well distributed throughout the year, 

 averaging 1,071 mm annually. Frontal precipitation from midlatitude cyclones 

 predominates in the winter, and local convection (thunderstorms) accounts for 

 most of the summer rainfall. 



10. Winds at the FRF are dominated by tropical air masses which create 

 low to moderate warm southern breezes, Arctic air masses which produce cold 

 winds from northerly directions, and smaller scale cyclonic low pressure sys- 

 tems which originate either in the tropics (and move north along the coast) or 

 originate inland (and move eastward offshore). The dominant wind direction 

 changes with the season, being generally from northern directions in the fall 

 and winter and from southern directions in the spring and summer. The annual 

 resultant wind direction is from the north-northwest. It is common for fall 

 and winter storms (northeasters) to produce winds with average speeds in 

 excess of 15 m/sec. Although the portion of the North Carolina coast in the 

 vicinity of the FRF experiences a fairly low frequency of occurrence of direct 

 hurricane strikes (on the average of once every 42 years), more frequent near- 

 misses can cause high wave conditions at the FRF. 



Waves 



11. Wave directions at the FRF, as with winds, are seasonally distrib- 

 uted. Waves tend to approach most frequently from north of the pier in the 

 fall and winter and south of the pier in the summer, but on an annual basis 

 they are approximately evenly distributed between north and south (resultant 

 wave direction is almost shore-normal). However, storm waves approach twice 

 as frequently from north of the pier. 



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