Photos show clear blue water at Galveston beach

City of Galveston | Facebook

Look at the beautiful blue beach! No, it isn’t a photo from Florida. This is what the water in Galveston, Texas looked like over the Memorial Day weekend.

The City of Galveston was one of many to share photos of the clear blue water on social media. There were many skeptics, but the city assured people it was real and invited others to share their own photos.

“Those of us who call this island home know that these last few days have been incredible,” the city said on its Facebook page.

The National Weather Service in Houston chimed in to offer an explanation for the unusually clear water.

“As it turns out the current along the coast is typically from the northeast to the southwest and this take silty water from the Mississippi and Sabine river and mashes it up with the muddy waters flowing out of Galveston Bay and pushes these down along the coast making the water near Galveston brown. But recently the current has reversed and has been flowing up the coast. And combining that current with the reduced river flows (hardly any rain in the last month) leads to the silt being carried away to the east and away from shore,” the NWS said.

The beautiful blue water was indeed short-lived. Local media reported the water was back to its normal murky brown by Wednesday.