Publication Date:
2016-06-21
Description:
Extraordinarily warm sea surface temperatures were present in the California Current System during 2014-2015. In several locations surface waters temperature registered new record high in the recent time series. This study focuses in the evolution of the warming in the southern part of the CCS, off the west coast of Baja California, Mexico. Analysis of monthly SST, sea level pressure and wind speed as measured by satellite from January 1988 to December 2015 show that recent warming occurred during two periods related to different processes. From May 2014 to April 2015, SST warming was related to weak coastal winds not associated to El Niño. During this period occurred the longest sustained period of 15 months of negative wind anomalies and strong negative sea level pressure in the series. A reduction of wind stress suggests a weakened coastal upwelling, and consequently cold water not transported into the surface. The second process of warming occurred from September to December 2015, during a strong El Niño condition.
Print ISSN:
0094-8276
Electronic ISSN:
1944-8007
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
