Ocean water temperatures along the Washington seashore range in the 40s & low 50s F in the summer, yet are much warmer 20-25 miles offshore. The California Current picks up upwellings of frigid North Pacific water & conveys them south along the coast all the way to Mexico’s Baja California Sur. The Atlantic Coast of the Eastern USA, by comparison, is warmed by the Gulf Stream as it heads north from the tropics.