Gold Coast
Palm Beach Water Temperature
Lake Worth Inlet, the Palm Beach drop-off, and the pier.
That is right about average for this time of year, and holding steady over the last two weeks. The September average here is 87°F.
Updated Sunday, September 20 — sea-surface temperature modeled for Palm Beach by Open-Meteo.
Out in the open Gulf, NOAA buoy LKWF1 — 11 miles offshore — is reading 88°F. Deep water offshore runs cooler than the shallows in summer and warmer in winter, so it won't match the beach.
For swimming
Very warm
Bath-warm. Pleasant, though it stops being much relief from the heat of the day.
For fishing
Hot — fish the edges of the day
Early and late is the play. Through the middle of the day fish drop into deeper channels and passes where there's moving water and more oxygen.
The last two weeks
Daily average sea-surface temperature, °F.
Palm Beach water temperature by month
Averaged from 3 years of daily sea-surface temperature (2023–2025). The range column is the coolest and warmest daily average recorded in that month over the period — a guide to how much any given year can differ, not a record high and low.
| Month | Average | Range | Swimming |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 77°F | 73–80°F | Warm |
| February | 77°F | 74–80°F | Warm |
| March | 77°F | 74–79°F | Warm |
| April | 79°F | 76–81°F | Warm |
| May | 82°F | 80–85°F | Very warm |
| June | 85°F | 83–87°F | Very warm |
| July | 87°F | 85–89°F | Very warm |
| August | 88°F | 86–89°F | Bath water |
| Septembernow | 87°F | 85–89°F | Very warm |
| October | 84°F | 82–86°F | Very warm |
| November | 82°F | 80–84°F | Very warm |
| December | 79°F | 77–82°F | Warm |
Warmest on average in August at 88°F; coolest in January at 77°F.
The water at Palm Beach
Palm Beach sits on a barrier island where the Atlantic shelf drops off unusually close to shore, so kingfish, sailfish, and big jacks are within sight of the beach. Lake Worth Inlet — the Port of Palm Beach cut — moves an enormous volume of water and holds snook, tarpon, and jacks year-round, and the Lake Worth Pier reaches into that same water. The NOAA gauge on the pier is the best local read on water temperature.
Lake Worth Inlet & the near Atlantic
What moves the water temperature here
The Gulf shelf off this coast is shallow, which is why the water swings so much more between summer and winter than open ocean at the same latitude does. Shallow water heats fast and gives that heat up fast: a single strong winter cold front can pull the inshore bays several degrees down in a couple of days, while the beaches a mile offshore barely move. Wind direction matters too — a sustained offshore breeze can pull cooler water up from below and drop the beach temperature noticeably in a morning.
Inshore bays, canals and flats run warmer than the beach through the summer and colder through the winter, for the same reason. The reading above is for the open water at Palm Beach; expect the back bays to be a few degrees either side of it depending on the season.
Common questions
- What is the water temperature at Palm Beach right now?
- The water at Palm Beach is currently about 87°F (31°C). The September average here is 87°F.
- Is the water warm enough to swim at Palm Beach in September?
- September averages 87°F at Palm Beach, which most people would call very warm. Bath-warm. Pleasant, though it stops being much relief from the heat of the day.
- When is the water warmest at Palm Beach?
- August is the warmest month on average at 88°F, and January the coolest at 77°F. 12 months of the year average 75°F or above.
- Why does the water temperature change so quickly here?
- The Gulf shelf off this coast is shallow, so it heats and cools far faster than deep open ocean. A strong winter cold front can pull the inshore water down several degrees in a couple of days, and a sustained offshore wind can drop beach temperatures in a single morning by pulling cooler water up from below.