Article Type:
Research Article

Spatial and Temporal Extent of Sea Surface Temperature Modifications by Hurricanes in the Sargasso Sea during the 1995 Season

Norman B. Nelson Bermuda Biological Station for Research, Inc., St. George’s, Bermuda

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Print Publication:
01 May 1998
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1998)126<1364:SATEOS>2.0.CO;2
Page(s):
1364–1368
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Abstract

Sea surface temperature anomalies in the central and western Sargasso Sea resulting from tropical cyclones were investigated during the 1995 hurricane season. High-resolution image data from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer instruments on board the NOAA-12 and NOAA-14 satellites were used to make 3-day composite sea surface temperature maps covering 22°–40°N and 50°–82.5°W. Ten tropical cyclones passed through this region in 1995, six at hurricane strength (winds greater than 33 m s−1). Four hurricanes (Felix, Iris, Luis, and Marilyn) caused significant cooling of the sea surface (up to 4°C) along their tracks. The largest surface area impacted by these four hurricanes at any one time was at least 4.8 × 105 km2, or 6% of the study area. Restoration of the ocean surface to prehurricane conditions occurred on the order of l0 days, except where successive hurricanes passed through a previously influenced area. Hurricanes Felix, Luis, and Marilyn all passed through an area northwest of Bermuda where significant sea surface temperature anomalies (greater than −1°C) persisted in this region for two-and-one-half months after the passage of Felix.

Corresponding author address: Dr. Norman B. Nelson, Bermuda Biological Station for Research, Inc., Ferry Reach, St. George’s, Bermuda.

Email: norm@bbsr.edu

Abstract

Sea surface temperature anomalies in the central and western Sargasso Sea resulting from tropical cyclones were investigated during the 1995 hurricane season. High-resolution image data from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer instruments on board the NOAA-12 and NOAA-14 satellites were used to make 3-day composite sea surface temperature maps covering 22°–40°N and 50°–82.5°W. Ten tropical cyclones passed through this region in 1995, six at hurricane strength (winds greater than 33 m s−1). Four hurricanes (Felix, Iris, Luis, and Marilyn) caused significant cooling of the sea surface (up to 4°C) along their tracks. The largest surface area impacted by these four hurricanes at any one time was at least 4.8 × 105 km2, or 6% of the study area. Restoration of the ocean surface to prehurricane conditions occurred on the order of l0 days, except where successive hurricanes passed through a previously influenced area. Hurricanes Felix, Luis, and Marilyn all passed through an area northwest of Bermuda where significant sea surface temperature anomalies (greater than −1°C) persisted in this region for two-and-one-half months after the passage of Felix.

Corresponding author address: Dr. Norman B. Nelson, Bermuda Biological Station for Research, Inc., Ferry Reach, St. George’s, Bermuda.

Email: norm@bbsr.edu

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