Southern Shores Sea Temperature

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

Water temperature in Southern Shores right now

Below is the current sea temperature for Southern Shores, United States on January 10, 2026.

Today

Yesterday

A week ago

This water is very cold and can cause pain. We don't recommend you swim in this temperature for anything other than very short swims of 5 to 10 minutes unless you are a very experienced cold water swimmer.

The average sea temperature for Southern Shores on January 10 over the last 10 years is 8.93° C (48.08° F), with a low temperature of 5.07° C (41.13° F) and a high of 11.64° C (52.95° F).

Analysis and forecast for Southern Shores water temperatures

The water temperature in Southern Shores today is the same as the average temperature of 8.93° C (48.08° F) and the temperature on this day last year was 8.93° C (48.08° F).

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

DateTemperature (Celsius)Temperature (Fahrenheit)
January 108.93° C48.08° F
January 99.11° C48.41° F
January 89.47° C49.05° F
January 79.71° C49.47° F
January 69.74° C49.53° F
January 59.81° C49.66° F
January 410.01° C50.01° F
January 310.14° C50.26° F
January 210.15° C50.27° F
January 110.3° C50.54° F
December 3110.21° C50.38° F
December 3010.24° C50.43° F
December 2910.32° C50.58° F
December 2810.43° C50.78° F
December 2710.6° C51.07° F
December 2610.7° C51.26° F
December 2510.65° C51.17° F
December 2410.7° C51.25° F
December 2310.67° C51.21° F
December 2210.92° C51.65° F
December 2111.11° C51.99° F
December 2011.23° C52.21° F
December 1911.28° C52.31° F
December 1811.31° C52.36° F
December 1711.49° C52.69° F
December 1611.57° C52.83° F
December 1511.73° C53.11° F
December 1411.86° C53.34° F
December 1311.9° C53.42° F
December 1212.1° C53.77° F

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 Southern Shores by month

The chart below shows the monthly average water temperature in Southern Shores.

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

Southern Shores map and nearby water temperatures

Southern Shores sea temperature map

Locations near Southern Shores

Why measure sea surface temperatures (SST) in Southern Shores?

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

SST is one measure that provides information on the global climate, and it can be used to predict the weather in Southern Shores 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 Southern Shores 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.