Ocean temperatures have been rising during recent days, and the risk of dangerous rip currents is low.
On many nice beach days during the past two weeks, visitors to the Jersey Shore who dared to take the plunge shivered in the Atlantic Ocean, as water temperatures were running several degrees colder than normal.
No longer.
Much to the delight of beachgoers and lifeguards, the ocean temperatures have shot up in recent days, especially in Ocean County and south to Cape May County.
On Monday morning, temperatures were actually a few degrees above normal for mid-July, according to temperature readings reported by the National Data Buoy Center, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
While the ocean temperature off the coast of Sandy Hook was 74 degrees Monday morning, right where it usually is on July 17, the readings off the coast of Atlantic City and Cape May were both 5 degrees above normal.
Atlantic City's ocean temperature was 75 degrees and Cape May's was 78.
Further inland, at the Cape May Canal on the Delaware Bay side of Cape May, the water temperature was 73 degrees Monday morning, one degree below normal for mid-July.
In North Wildwood, despite the partial cloud cover Monday morning, lots of beachgoers were enjoying the 74-degree ocean temperature, according to Tony Cavalier, chief of the North Wildwood Beach Patrol.
"We see a lot more people in the water today," Cavalier said, noting the scene was similar during the weekend, with comfortable ocean temperatures on Saturday and Sunday.
The good news for swimmers is the ocean temperatures along the Jersey Shore tend to hit their warmest levels of the summer from late July through late August. So the most comfortable water conditions are yet to come.
Atlantic City's ocean temperature usually peaks at 73 degrees in mid-to late August, and Cape May's ocean reading normally peaks at 74 during the second half of July and the first half of August, according to NOAA statistics.
Sometimes the ocean temperature in North Wildwood gets as high as 76 or 77 degrees in late July and early August, Cavalier said.
That's a far cry from the week of Fourth of July, when beachgoers in North Wildwood were shivering in water temperatures in the low 60s, which Cavalier likened to "a sheet of ice."
More good news for Jersey Shore beachgoers: The risk of dangerous rip currents forming on Monday is low, according to the National Weather Service.
Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality or like him on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.