Current Sea Surface Temperatures Rising in the Gulf of Mexico
Sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico rise due to natural summer warming. These warm surface temperatures are a contributing factor to favorable conditions that can lead to the formation of tropical storms and hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and off the Eastern Shore of the United States. In general, hurricanes tend to form over warm ocean water whose temperature is 82 degrees Fahreheit (approximately 27.7 degrees Celsius) or higher. These areas are depicted in yellow, orange, and red. This data was taken by the AMSR-E instrument aboard the Aqua satellite.
This animation updates every 24 hours.
This animation shows the progression of warm waters slowly filling the Gulf of Mexico (shown in yellow, orange, and red). This natural annual warming contributes to the possible formation of hurricanes in the Gulf. SST data shown here ranges from January 1 to the present.
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The legend for sea surface temperature. The color scale ranges from dark blue for areas below 15C to dark red for regions above 35C.
