WORLD - Unusual Ocean Anomalies are being detected in the North Atlantic, impacting the Atlantic storm systems as we head into the Summer season
The Atlantic Ocean is one of the global areas that greatly affect the weather and climate in the United States and Europe. In the past weeks, unusual temperature anomalies were detected in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean. This part of the ocean is known to have an important connection to the Atlantic hurricane season and the other weather seasons ahead.
Global weather is in a constant flow, connected through space and time. Using satellites, we can track the motion of clouds and pressure systems worldwide. This motion is caused by pressure changes and winds, which are crucial in the connection between the oceans and the atmosphere.
We will look at the latest ocean anomalies in the North Atlantic. Also, we will try to find historical signals to help us understand how these anomalies will likely affect the seasonal weather ahead. But first, we must understand what drives these ocean temperature anomalies.
PRESSURE AND WINDS
Across the world, there are many different regions with persistent prevailing winds. The most important ones are likely the trade winds.
Trade winds are the prevailing easterly winds that circle the Earth near the equator. They are stronger and more consistent over the oceans than over the land. As a result, trade winds often produce partly cloudy sky conditions characterized by shallow cumulus clouds and stable weather.
The trade winds were named by the crews of sailing ships that depended on the winds during westward ocean trade crossings.
In the image below, you can see the global surface wind patterns, with global trade winds in yellow and red. In the North Atlantic, the circulation pattern is clockwise, as a high-pressure system is present in that region.
Below you can see an image that shows the actual average surface winds from the past 40 years. This nicely reveals the prevailing easterly trade winds across the subtropical and tropical North Atlantic. You can also see the clockwise circulation in the North Atlantic.
We produced another 40-year average, this time for sea level pressure. The data reveals a persistent high-pressure system in the subtropical North Atlantic. There is a low-pressure dominant in the subpolar North Atlantic. This helps explain the trade winds’ direction, as a high-pressure system spins clockwise.
