An investigation of the heat energy budget of a coastal bay

Hourly surface weather observations from a 54-week period of time in 1973-74 are used to simulate local air-water heat energy fluxes for Corpus Christi Bay, Texas. Results show heat energy gains and losses, and the resulting simulated temperatures, varying over three distinct time scales. The annual cycle explains 82% of the variance of simulated bay temperatures. Approximately weekly variations in the storage term raise and lower water temperatures 1-2°C about the seasonal norm from May through August, and 3-4°C about the seasonal norm during the rest of the year.