Here’s Myrtle Beach’s summer weather outlook & ocean temperatures
Spring has started to feel like summer in northeastern South Carolina over the past few weeks.
As summer tourism season begins to slowly ramp up, vacationers may be wondering what the weather and water temperatures will be like at the beach.
According to data from the National Weather Service in Wilmington, NC, in April, the average temperatures take from the Myrtle Beach International Airport were 3.3 degrees above normal.
“The expectation is, as we go through late spring into summer, above normal temperatures will continue,” NWS meteorologist Tim Armstrong said.
He added that based on information from the NWS’s Climate Prediction Center, there is an increased chance of above normal temperatures all the way through the summer months in northeastern South Carolina.
“Essentially, it’s a massively increased chance that we will run in the one-third warmest of all summers that we’ve experienced so far in Myrtle Beach for this summer,” Armstrong described.
As for the ocean temperatures, they’ve remained above average too in Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach. Armstrong said that in April temperatures are four degrees higher than normal, with the water measuring at approximately 70 degrees.
Typically, he said the ocean waters will start to hit 80 degrees in June, and last that way through September.
“So it looks like should things continue like it is, that we’ll start reaching those really tropical 80 degree surface temperatures maybe a little earlier than usual this year,” Armstrong said about the ocean’s outlook.
As for rip currents, Armstrong said they don’t have seasonal outlooks and don’t forecast them more than about three to five days in advance. Any hurricanes that may happen in the Atlantic Ocean could have big impacts on the size of the swell and likelihood of rip currents at the beach, he explained.
Since Jan. 1, 2025, he said Myrtle Beach is 4.68 inches below normal rainfall. Currently, Armstrong said weather outlooks are pointing to these drought conditions remaining through May, and potentially even intensifying.
However, in June, the Climate Prediction Center is showing that the Myrtle Beach region is expected to get above average rainfall.
“So hopefully, once we get more in the summer, the number of those afternoon thunderstorms will increase enough to actually offset and improve some of those drought conditions that are still existing across the area,” Armstrong said.
