The water temperature off southern Florida has been about 38 C two days in a row: that’s as hot as a hot tub, as hot as the maximum recommended heat for a baby’s bath, and hotter than what’s usually recommended for a pregnant woman.
It’s also, meteorologists say, possibly the hottest seawater ever measured.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says weather records for sea water temperature are unofficial and there are certain conditions in this reading that could disqualify it for a top mark, but the initial reading on a buoy at Manatee Bay hit about 38.4 C Monday evening. The
