Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: Strongly positive temperature anomalies developed in the NE Pacific Ocean during the boreal winter of 2013–2014. Based on a mixed layer temperature budget, these anomalies were caused by lower than normal rates of the loss of heat from the ocean to the atmosphere and of relatively weak cold advection in the upper ocean. Both of these mechanisms can be attributed to an unusually strong and persistent weather pattern featuring much higher than normal sea level pressure over the waters of interest. This anomaly was the greatest observed in this region since at least the 1980s. The region of warm sea surface temperature anomalies subsequently expanded and reached coastal waters in spring and summer 2014. Impacts on fisheries and regional weather are discussed. It is found that sea surface temperature anomalies in this region affect air temperatures downwind in Washington state.
Source: Geophysical Research Letters
DOI: 10.1002/2015gl063306
Institutions: University of Washington, Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, & Ecosystem Studies, NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Southwest Fisheries Science Center
Language: English
Subfield: Oceanography
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,190
Awards: G6322871081, G7858175782
OpenAlex ID: W2014042014