Charleston Harbor holds late-summer warmth as fall push builds

What's next

Expect the harbor to hold in the upper 70s over the next few days. A real drop usually waits for the first solid cold front to move through, and nothing in the current readings shows that shift starting yet. The moon is waning gibbous and moving toward last quarter, so tidal swings should ease off this week's peak rather than build — a better window for working structure on a slower-moving tide than chasing the biggest exchange.

Sport Fishing Mag's fall-migration coverage notes that False Albacore typically start showing along the Southeast coast as nearshore water cools, so it's worth working the surface early and late once temperatures start easing off the mid-70s. Redfish tend to slide onto shallow flats and into the marsh as that same cool-down progresses, a shift that should become more relevant here over the coming weeks.

Context

Late September typically marks the start of the cool-down along the South Carolina coast, with inshore water sliding out of summer's upper-70s and low-80s range toward the mid-60s by November. The readings here are still squarely in summer territory, which puts this year's transition a bit later than the typical Lowcountry calendar — not unusual for a warm early fall, but worth watching, since the shift can move quickly once a front finally comes through.