Weekly Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly

Sea surface temperature is affected by many things, including local weather, currents, and seasonal changes. One of the easiest ways to track changes in sea surface temperature is to view the temperature anomaly, that is, the difference between the expected temperature and the actual one. (The expected temperature is the average temperature for that day of the year, based on data from the last several decades.)

Slight differences between the expected and actual sea surface temperature are to be expected, but more severe anomalies can affect fisheries and the health of coral reefs.

Anomalies in sea temperatures can also lead to anomalies in weather. An example of this is El Niño, in which unusually warm waters in the tropical Pacific result in unusual storm patterns in North America and unusually dry weather for Australia. In this way, sea surface temperature anomalies can serve as a kind of early warning system for weather phenomena.