There are many similarities between the sea surface temperatures and atmospheric structure during the past week and those observed during the sinking of the Titanic on April 14-15, 1912.
Should marine traffic today be worried about icebergs? The answer is revealed below!
Examining the sea surface temperatures (SSTs) today (below), you will notice cool water (around 50F) off our coast, dropping into the forties to our north. Temperatures slowly warm to our south, only hitting about 60°F in San Diego. Not very exciting or unusual.
But if you want dramatic sea surface temperature contrasts, head to the East Coast.
East of New England, ocean temperatures are in the upper 30s and 40s and are even colder near Newfoundland.
There is a huge increase in temperature south in a zone east of Maryland/Delaware. This warmth is associated with the northern extension of the Gulf Stream moving along the southeast coast.
Below is an expanded view of the above: amazing sea surface temperature changes over tens of miles.
As you can imagine, there are similarly large near-surface air temperature contrasts. To illustrate, consider the air temperature at 2 meters above the surface this morning (below). Air temperatures range from below freezing near Newfoundland to around 70°F over a few hundred miles to the south.
Let us go back to April 14, 1912. Below is the near-surface (1000 hPa pressure) air temperature analysis for that date.
