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 months, July and August, 

 the monthly air temperature averaged over 25° C. Correspondingly, ocean water 

 surface temperatures tend to be highest during July through September, aver- 

 aging over 20° C. Lowest air and water temperatures are during February, 

 averaging less than than 8° C and 5° C, respectively. 



9. Precipitation is generally well distributed throughout the year, 

 averaging 1,061 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 maritime air masses 

 which create low to moderate, warm southern breezes; arctic and polar air 

 masses which produce cold winds from northerly directions; and smaller scale 

 cyclonic, low pressure systems, 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 fre- 

 quency 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 



14 



