Rapid Intensification of Hurricane Ian in Relation to Anomalously Warm Subsurface Water on the Wide Continental Shelf
Abstract Hurricane Ian rapidly intensified from Category 3 to 5 as it transited the wide West Florida Shelf (WFS). This is ascribed to heating by the anomalously warm shelf waters, despite the water depth being shallow when compared to the thicker, mixed layer areas of the deeper ocean. By examining...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113192 |
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| author | Yonggang Liu Robert H. Weisberg Luis Sorinas Jason A. Law Alexander K. Nickerson |
| author_facet | Yonggang Liu Robert H. Weisberg Luis Sorinas Jason A. Law Alexander K. Nickerson |
| author_sort | Yonggang Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Hurricane Ian rapidly intensified from Category 3 to 5 as it transited the wide West Florida Shelf (WFS). This is ascribed to heating by the anomalously warm shelf waters, despite the water depth being shallow when compared to the thicker, mixed layer areas of the deeper ocean. By examining temperature from long‐term moorings, we found that the sea surface and subsurface temperatures exceeded the climatologies by 1–2°C and 2–3°C, respectively. Additionally, these anomalously high temperatures in summer/fall of 2022 were related to the absence of Gulf of Mexico Loop Current interactions with the WFS slope at its “pressure point”. Without such offshore forcing to induce an upwelling circulation, the warmer waters on the shelf were not flushed and replaced by colder waters of deeper ocean origin. This work highlights the importance of subsurface temperature and ocean circulation monitoring on shallow continental shelves, which are largely overlooked in hurricane‐related ocean heat content observational programs. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b94076d9945841d0a4a5764174d7eaa0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-b94076d9945841d0a4a5764174d7eaa02025-01-20T13:05:57ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072025-01-01521n/an/a10.1029/2024GL113192Rapid Intensification of Hurricane Ian in Relation to Anomalously Warm Subsurface Water on the Wide Continental ShelfYonggang Liu0Robert H. Weisberg1Luis Sorinas2Jason A. Law3Alexander K. Nickerson4College of Marine Science University of South Florida St. Petersburg FL USACollege of Marine Science University of South Florida St. Petersburg FL USACollege of Marine Science University of South Florida St. Petersburg FL USACollege of Marine Science University of South Florida St. Petersburg FL USACollege of Marine Science University of South Florida St. Petersburg FL USAAbstract Hurricane Ian rapidly intensified from Category 3 to 5 as it transited the wide West Florida Shelf (WFS). This is ascribed to heating by the anomalously warm shelf waters, despite the water depth being shallow when compared to the thicker, mixed layer areas of the deeper ocean. By examining temperature from long‐term moorings, we found that the sea surface and subsurface temperatures exceeded the climatologies by 1–2°C and 2–3°C, respectively. Additionally, these anomalously high temperatures in summer/fall of 2022 were related to the absence of Gulf of Mexico Loop Current interactions with the WFS slope at its “pressure point”. Without such offshore forcing to induce an upwelling circulation, the warmer waters on the shelf were not flushed and replaced by colder waters of deeper ocean origin. This work highlights the importance of subsurface temperature and ocean circulation monitoring on shallow continental shelves, which are largely overlooked in hurricane‐related ocean heat content observational programs.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113192Hurricane Ianrapid intensificationsubsurface water temperatureGulf of Mexico Loop currentWest Florida Shelfcoastal ocean observing ststem |
| spellingShingle | Yonggang Liu Robert H. Weisberg Luis Sorinas Jason A. Law Alexander K. Nickerson Rapid Intensification of Hurricane Ian in Relation to Anomalously Warm Subsurface Water on the Wide Continental Shelf Geophysical Research Letters Hurricane Ian rapid intensification subsurface water temperature Gulf of Mexico Loop current West Florida Shelf coastal ocean observing ststem |
| title | Rapid Intensification of Hurricane Ian in Relation to Anomalously Warm Subsurface Water on the Wide Continental Shelf |
| title_full | Rapid Intensification of Hurricane Ian in Relation to Anomalously Warm Subsurface Water on the Wide Continental Shelf |
| title_fullStr | Rapid Intensification of Hurricane Ian in Relation to Anomalously Warm Subsurface Water on the Wide Continental Shelf |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rapid Intensification of Hurricane Ian in Relation to Anomalously Warm Subsurface Water on the Wide Continental Shelf |
| title_short | Rapid Intensification of Hurricane Ian in Relation to Anomalously Warm Subsurface Water on the Wide Continental Shelf |
| title_sort | rapid intensification of hurricane ian in relation to anomalously warm subsurface water on the wide continental shelf |
| topic | Hurricane Ian rapid intensification subsurface water temperature Gulf of Mexico Loop current West Florida Shelf coastal ocean observing ststem |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113192 |
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