Study Finds 'Pressure Point' In the Gulf Could Drive Hurricane Strength (phys.org) 30
alternative_right shares a report from Phys.org: Driven by high temperatures in the Gulf, Hurricane Ian rapidly intensified from a Category 3 to Category 5 before making landfall in Southwest Florida on September 28, 2022. The deadly storm caught many by surprise and became the costliest hurricane in state history. Now, researchers from the University of South Florida say they've identified what may have caused Ian to develop so quickly. A strong ocean current called the Loop Current failed to circulate water in the shallow region of the Gulf. As a result, subsurface waters along the West Coast of Florida remained unusually warm during the peak of hurricane season. [...]
The researchers found that if the Loop Current reaches an area near the Dry Tortugas, which they call the "pressure point," it can flush warm waters from the West Florida Shelf and replace it with cold water from deeper regions of the Gulf. This pressure point is where the shallow contours of the seafloor converge, forcing cold water to the surface in a process known as upwelling. In the months leading up to Hurricane Ian, the Loop Current did not reach the pressure point, leaving the waters on the shelf unmixed, which caused both the surface and subsurface waters on the West Florida Shelf to remain warm throughout summer. The findings have been published in Geophysical Research Letters.
The researchers found that if the Loop Current reaches an area near the Dry Tortugas, which they call the "pressure point," it can flush warm waters from the West Florida Shelf and replace it with cold water from deeper regions of the Gulf. This pressure point is where the shallow contours of the seafloor converge, forcing cold water to the surface in a process known as upwelling. In the months leading up to Hurricane Ian, the Loop Current did not reach the pressure point, leaving the waters on the shelf unmixed, which caused both the surface and subsurface waters on the West Florida Shelf to remain warm throughout summer. The findings have been published in Geophysical Research Letters.
Re: which gulf would that be? (Score:2, Informative)
Gulf of MEXICO!
That'd be my guess, although, like you, my first thought was elsewhere, specifically the Arabian Gulf.
Re: which gulf would that be? (Score:5, Insightful)
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I'm going to use this line next time I go to the comedy club and watch stand up. Its perfect on so many levels.
Re: (Score:1)
Many ruzzkies thought likewise, they're not so happy now that every "absurd" joke from 3 years ago is turning real. Trumpism will fuck you too. This is how these things tend to work.
There's no safe haven, as your king likes to get even, and so do his minions. And eventually you'll be under one and he'll believe you're disloyal. And punish you.
Re: which gulf would that be? (Score:4, Funny)
In my country we always called it the Persian Gulf.
Anyhow, beyond the headline, what is a dry tortuga? Is that like beef jerky but with turtle meat? :)
Re: which gulf would that be? (Score:1)
Yeah, that's what I was thinking of...I made a mistake.
Re:which gulf would that be? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:which gulf would that be? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:which gulf would that be? (Score:5, Insightful)
The exception is in the construction 'the Gulf stream', sometimes as an inaccurate synonym for AMOC.
Not sometimes, all the time.
And 99% of the human race has never
heard of the AMOC. They just know the
term "Gulf stream". You must have a very
painful life, trying to read the daily news.
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IIUC, "The Gulf Stream" is the name for one section of the "AMOC". E.g., I don't think it's called "the Gulf Stream" off the coast of Ireland.
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'The Gulf' without qualification is usually taken to be the one in the Middle East. So I am not sure how that affects hurricanes in the USA.
It works like this. People who are not abject
morons and who have reading comprehension
of at least second or third primary school grade
understand context. So when they see "Gulf"
and "Hurricanes in the US" in the sentence,
the know that it means the Gulf of Mexico.
Re: (Score:2)
Actually, the unqualified term is usually interpreted relative to the person using the term.
If you're an American, "The Gulf" usually refers to the Gulf of Mexico / America / Trump.
If you're in Asia, it usually refers to the Persian Gulf.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
there are quite a few
After countless mentions of Florida in TFS, are you still that confused? Truly?
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you must be referring to "of America"
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Cool fact, but how much do you -really- know about this topic? What is the ratio of gulfs without gulf in their name vs gulfs named gulf?
Re: which gulf would that be? (Score:2)
I'm so happy that, with the woke influence ended, we can finally say exactly what we mean when we want to.
Oh, wait...
Re: (Score:2)
Like it says in the article, the one next to Florida. Geography is hard.
Hurricane prediction is HARD (Score:2)
Since 2001, hurricane and tropical storm forecasts before the beginning of the season, were accurate only about 60% of the time.
https://www.houstonchronicle.c... [houstonchronicle.com].
While the number of hurricanes may often be less than the number predicted, the intensity of storms has increased due to warmer oceans.
So...it's complicated.
Anomalies (Score:2)
This is interesting so it raises the question of whether other hurricanes strengthened last time this layering happened and one passed over.
That this storm strengthened /exactly/ when a solar storm hit Earth seemed like a more promising anomaly but a strong dataset would support their hypothesis and rule out a massive coincidence.
Climate Deniers Voted for Bad Weather (Score:3)
the stupid metric (Score:2)
Why do we keep writing "the costliest storm" as a measure of anything?
Anyone with any sense recognizes this has more to do with urban sprawl and property values than storm intensity, yes?