Seasonal sea surface temperatures of the North Pacific

Kern E.  Kenyon

doi:10.4236/ns.2013.58105

Kern E. Kenyon

Abstract: Mean seasonal surface temperatures of the North Pacific are illustrated in three maps. Twenty nine years of ship-injection temperatures are used for the whole North Pacific (north of 20?N). Map number two shows geographical regions of the month of highest sea surface temperature. There are two broad bands in the central and eastern basin, trending northeast/southwest, such that the September band lies east of the August band along a given latitude line. Map three depicts regions of the lowest monthly mean temperatures. March is the most common month, but in the middle of the ocean is a band of Februarys trending northeast/southwest. These features on maps two and three are interpreted in terms of the newly proposed wide warm surface current and its seasonal variations, mainly in horizontal position, flowing northeastward off California. It has not been found possible to compare maps two and three with the results from any earlier work. Map one shows the mean seasonal range of surface temperature, which has a character similar to maps going all the way back to the late 1800s, but is based on considerably more data.

Keywords: Seasonal Variations; Sea Surface Temperature; North Pacific Ocean

Cite this paper: Kenyon, K. (2013) Seasonal sea surface temperatures of the North Pacific. Natural Science, 5, 875-879. doi: 10.4236/ns.2013.58105.

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