Current:Home > StocksFlorida ocean temperatures peak to almost 100 degrees amid heatwave: "You really can't cool off" -ProfitPioneers Hub
Florida ocean temperatures peak to almost 100 degrees amid heatwave: "You really can't cool off"
View
Date:2025-04-19 00:31:23
Floridians usually flock to the ocean to escape the summer heat. But this week, it may not have been much help as sea surface temperatures soared to the mid-90s, even encroaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit at some points.
Some of the highest temperatures seemed to be around South Florida, with a NOAA buoy off the tip of the state recording a water temperature of nearly 97 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday, the temperature in that area dropped down to just under 94 degrees, before dropping even further to about 88 degrees as of Friday morning.
Those warm waters were even farther north around Tampa Bay, buoy data shows. Old Port Tampa recorded temperatures surpassing 94 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday, while a buoy in nearby Clearwater Beach recorded temperatures as high as 91 degrees the same day. The Atlantic Coast is seeing temperatures in the mid to high 80s.
The Weather Channel's Stephanie Abrams told "CBS Mornings" on Friday that June marked the third consecutive month of record ocean waters.
"Not only are we seeing the warmth in the Pacific with the building of El Niño, but also over the North Atlantic," she said. "...The water temperatures near Miami are in the mid-90s."
Death Valley is going to approach 130°F this weekend — with a low of just 100°F, as the Southwest experiences a brutal heat wave with no end in sight.@WeatherChannel’s @StephanieAbrams breaks down the extreme heat. https://t.co/MAviOMte5C pic.twitter.com/N1QK0RRhtd
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) July 14, 2023
Meteorologists told CBS Miami that the temperatures seen in Florida's coastal waters are "incredible."
"The water is so warm you really can't cool off," National Weather Service meteorologist Andrew Orrison told CBS Miami, saying the temperatures seen in the Gulf and Southwest Atlantic are 4 to 5 degrees warmer than normal.
Average temperatures in the Gulf Coast typically remain in the mid-80s in July on average, according to NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.
"That's making things tougher or more oppressive for people who are going to be out and about," Orrison said, as the warm water also makes the air more humid. All of South Florida is at risk of excessive heat in the coming week, with the heat index expected to be as high as 110 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
The conditions come as a marine heat wave continues to encapsulate the world's oceans. In May and June, global sea temperatures hit record-highs, hitting temperatures "much higher than anything the models predicted," researchers said. El Niño is partially to blame, although the overall increase in global temperatures is a major component.
Sea surface temperatures have been rising for decades, with the past three decades seeing "consistently higher" temperatures "than any other time since reliable observations began in 1880," according to the EPA.
The warming the world's oceans have experienced since 1991, in particular, is so extreme, that it has doubled the size of the marine heat wave that's been forecasted for September. At that time, it's expected that as much as half of the ocean could be experiencing a heat wave.
Sea surface temperatures are a vital indicator of the health of the world's oceans and the planet at large. And if it becomes too warm, the impacts could be devastating. As the sea surface temperature changes, it can affect the species that are able to live in certain locations, thus altering migration and breeding patterns, the EPA says.
It can also cause coral bleaching, which Florida is currently at risk of experiencing.
Mark Eakin, a retired NOAA coral reef scientist who is now at the International Coral Reef Society, told CBS Miami that the heat could bring a "nasty bleaching" event to Florida's reefs. And Liv Williamson, who studies reefs at the University of Miami's Coral Reef Futures Lab, said that her team has already started hearing of bleaching events from Belize, "which is very alarming this early in the summer."
There's a 90% chance there will be major bleaching in Florida, the Caribbean coast of Central America, and other areas, she said.
"This is only July," she said. "This heat will just keep accumulating and these corals will be forced to deal with dangerously warm conditions for much longer than is normal."
Higher sea surface temperatures could also increase the risk of the development of the toxic bloom known as red tide, which Florida has notoriously struggled with for years as these events are toxic to marine life.
Impacts even go beyond the sunshine state, impacting the global climate at large, the EPA says. As sea surface temperatures warm, it adds water vapor to the atmosphere over the oceans, feeding into weather systems and increasing the risk of heavier precipitation events.
- In:
- Weather Forecast
- Coral Reef
- Climate Change
- Oceans
- Gulf of Mexico
- Florida
- Atlantic Ocean
Li Cohen is a social media producer and trending content writer for CBS News.
veryGood! (944)
Related
- 'Kraven the Hunter' spoilers! Let's dig into that twisty ending, supervillain reveal
- Versailles Palace evacuated again for security alert amid high vigilance in France against attacks
- Wisconsin Republicans admit vote to fire elections chief had no legal effect
- A $1.4 million ticket for speeding? Georgia man shocked by hefty fine, told it's no typo
- Could your smelly farts help science?
- 'Love is Blind' Season 5 reunion spoilers: Who's together, who tried again after the pods
- Wisconsin Republicans withhold university pay raises in fight over school diversity funding
- Wisconsin Republicans withhold university pay raises in fight over school diversity funding
- Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
- M&M's Halloween Rescue Squad might help save you from an empty candy bowl on Halloween
Ranking
- Meet first time Grammy nominee Charley Crockett
- Dolly Parton will be Dallas Cowboys' Thanksgiving Day halftime performer
- Tyga Seeking Legal and Physical Custody of His and Blac Chyna’s Son King
- 2 people accused of helping Holyoke shooting suspect arrested as mother whose baby died recovers
- What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
- Horoscopes Today, October 16, 2023
- New Mexico governor: state agencies must switch to all-electric vehicle fleet by the year 2035
- Zipcar fined after allowing customers rent vehicles with open, unrepaired recalls
Recommendation
Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
Fijian leader hopes Australian submarines powered by US nuclear technology will enhance peace
Lawsuit over death of autistic man in a Pittsburgh jail alleges negligence, systemic discrimination
Justice Barrett expresses support for a formal US Supreme Court ethics code in Minnesota speech
Woman dies after Singapore family of 3 gets into accident in Taiwan
Happy National Boss Day — but don't tell Bruce Springsteen: Why he hates his nickname
Donald Trump is returning to his civil fraud trial, but star witness Michael Cohen won’t be there
Choice Hotels offers nearly $8 billion for larger rival Wyndham Hotels & Resorts as travel booms