How long after Hurricane Irene until vis returns to normal

acteg · Aug 25, 2011

Hey guys. I am diving the "Wreck Corridor" with JASA out of Palm Beach next Saturday. Since Hurricane Irene is passing by now, do you think visibility will be back to "normal" a full week from now?

thanks

lmorin · Aug 25, 2011

Yes...

g1138 · Aug 25, 2011

As long as a prolonged bloom doesn't follow after, then yes it should return to normal.

acteg · Aug 25, 2011

Thanks guys. Looking forward to the dive.

FinPivots · Aug 25, 2011

g1138:
As long as a prolonged bloom doesn't follow after, then yes it should return to normal.

What does this refer to?

I called Force-E today, as I am diving off of Boca next week, and they said it would be ok after 2 days or so.

g1138 · Aug 25, 2011

Hurricanes draw up nutrient rich water from the bottom of the ocean (nutrients can cause bad viz). This influx of nutrients can allow for blooms of micro organisms that may either take the form of algae, plankton, or Harmful Algae Blooms (which may or may not be algae AND may or may not be biologically harmful to humans: FUN FACT)
Blooms will definitely cause bad viz.

A bloom will quickly eat up the nutrients in the water . However the bloom itself may take a while to die out even after the nutrients are depleted. In which case visibility will be prolonged for a bit longer until the bloom dies off and the small decaying bodies drift back down to the benthic. And unfortunately micro organisms don't exactly sink all that fast.

sotgecho · Aug 25, 2011

Depends.

It is hurricane season there is another out in the Atlantic already.

Vis will settle down after a few days lots of stuff gets stirred up. Algae bloom happens as g1138 posted and it affects can last dependent on how long the bloom lasts.

FinPivots · Aug 25, 2011

sotgecho:
Depends.

It is hurricane season there is another out in the Atlantic already.

Supposedly supposed to bang a right turn out to nowhere but we shall see...

Tropical Depression Ten Forms

blackvans1234 · Aug 25, 2011

Just remember, meteorologist is one of the few jobs where you can have a bachelors degree or more, and still be wrong, all of the time

danvolker · Aug 25, 2011

When we get storms in West palm vis will go from 80 feet down to maybe 20 feet in a storm like this--for a few days....and sometimes it can be very clear in 24 hours. The gulf stream is an x-factor here---it can completely clear out the silting in a single day, and often does.

At noon today, during peak low tide, with 50 mph winds, I and a few other people needed to do some testing of a new diving system at the Blue Heron Bridge Marine Park.....as bad as the weather was, and with low tide being the worst vis you can have, we still had about 8 foot vis..at high tide it would probably have been quite good..but that was going to be 6 hours later, and we could not wait... I have friends that dive in the Pacific NW, that would consider this to be pretty great diving conditions

Just saying, as far out as your trip is, I would not worry.

How long after Hurricane Irene until vis returns to normal

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