2008 Sea Surface Surface Temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico

  • Released Wednesday, January 14th, 2009
  • Updated Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023 at 1:54PM
  • ID: 3397

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 Fahrenheit (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 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, 2008 through December 31, 2008.

The legend for sea surface temperature. The color scale ranges from dark blue for areas below 15C to dark red for regions above 35C.

The legend for sea surface temperature. The color scale ranges from dark blue for areas below 15C to dark red for regions above 35C.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-12-31.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-12-31.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-01-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-01-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-02-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-02-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-03-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-03-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-04-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-04-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-05-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-05-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-06-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-06-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-07-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-07-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-08-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-08-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-09-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-09-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-10-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-10-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-11-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-11-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-12-01.

Sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic on 2008-12-01.

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Series

This visualization can be found in the following series:

Datasets used in this visualization

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