People are sitting at the beach in May 2 in Constanța County, July 19, 2025, photo: Inquam Photos / George Călin
The Black Sea water suddenly cooled down the Romanian coast, reaching 11-15 degrees Celsius on Saturday, compared to 25-26 degrees a few days ago.
The significant cooling of the water has been felt from Thursday, August 21, when the wind blowed with bursts of 45-55 km/h, according to the specialized publication.
The phenomenon is called “upwelling”, through which the cold water in the depths is brought to the surface due to the wind and replaces the hot water from the surface.
On Saturday morning, the sea water went down to 11-15 degrees, and at 11 o'clock it was slightly heated to 15-17 degrees.
However, it is not the first time that the phenomenon occurs this summer, a similar episode having in July.
According to observatornews.ro, this weekend there are about 120,000 tourists on the coast, with an employment of 80%.
The air temperature of these days on the coast is between 28 and 31 degrees Celsius, and the minimums between 20 and 23 degrees, meteorologists have transmitted.
What is the “upweling” phenomenon
The phenomenon that upsets tourists now on the coast is called upweling. It appears when the winds that blow with power over the surface of the sea push the cold water from the depths to the surface, replacing the hot water.
The reverse process, called “downwelling”, also takes place when the wind causes the surface water to accumulate along a rib, and the surface water is pushed to the depths, writes the specialized site Oceanservice.
The water that rises to the surface as a result of upweling is usually colder and richer in nutrients. These nutrients “fertilize” surface waters, which means that these surface waters often have high biological productivity. Therefore, good fishing areas are usually found where upweling is common.
