Nags Head Sea Temperature

Looking to find out what the sea water temperature in Nags Head is for today and the next few days? Below are data and charts that will give you information about sea temperatures in Nags Head and nearby locations.

Analysis and forecast for Nags Head water temperatures

The water temperature in Nags Head today is higher than the average temperature of 18.1° C (64.58° F) and the temperature on this day last year, 19th May 2023, was 18.93° C (66.07° F).

The chart and table below shows the change in water temperature in Nags Head over the last 30 days:

The actual nearshore temperatures may vary by several degrees and this can also be heavily affected by weather. Strong winds can cause cold, deep waters to replace the surface waters that had been warmed by the sun, and heavy rain can also reduce the temperature of the sea surface temperature as well.

Water temperature in Nags Head by month

The chart below shows the monthly average water temperature in Nags Head.

For more detailed information on how the sea temperature in Nags Head changes for each month of the year, choose from the months below.

Nags Head map and nearby water temperatures

Locations near Nags Head

Manteo

United States, North America

4.46 miles away

Roanoke Island

United States, North America

5.12 miles away

Kill Devil Hills

United States, North America

5.84 miles away

Wanchese

United States, North America

7.97 miles away

Kitty Hawk

United States, North America

8.70 miles away

Croatan Sound

United States, North America

8.82 miles away

The highest temperature in United States today is 27.91° C (82.24° F) in Big Coppitt Key. The lowest is in Barrow, where the temperature of the water is -1.67° C (29° F).

Why measure sea surface temperatures (SST) in Nags Head?

The ocean covers about 71% of the Earth's surface, and scientists record the sea surface temperature (SST) of locations such as Nags Head because they want to understand and learn how the ocean communicates with the atomosphere of Earth.

SST is one measure that provides information on the global climate, and it can be used to predict the weather in Nags Head as well as atmospheric model simulations and to study marine ecosystems in the area.

Data source and citation

Raw data for the calculations made to find the sea surface temperature in Nags Head comes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and their 1/4° daily Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature.

The water temperature data is constructed by combining observations from different platforms (satellites, ships, buoys, and Argo floats) on a regular global grid. A spatially complete sea surface temperature map is then built by interpolating to fill in gaps in the data.

If you'd like to use any of the information above in the format it is presented, please use the citation tool below.