The previous record, 83.3, was set Aug. 10, 2016, said Jim Eberwine, retired marine meteorologist at the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly and now Absecon's emergency management chief. The water-temperature data date to 1912.

During "upwelling" events in late July and earlier this month, the toe-chilling waters dipped into the mid-50s — 55.8 on Aug. 10.

'Upwelling' last month did some toe-chilling

The surf temperature at Atlantic City has since rebounded and then some. It hit the record 83.8 at 9:42 p.m. Tuesday, according to the NOAA gauge. At 10:20 Wednesday morning, it was 82.2, quite close to what it was off the northern Florida coast.

The oceanic mood swings have everything to do with the winds, which recently have emphatically routed the conditions that had made the surf fit for a wet suit, said Paul Fitzsimmons, a lead meteorologist at the Mount Holly office.

Persistent winds from the south that cooked the region with intense heat July into August had a chilling effect on the Jersey Shore surf.