It is no coincidence that warm ocean temperatures and the formation of hurricanes go hand-in-hand. This is because the warm temperatures are one of the starting points for the evaporation that is linked to hurricane development. This evaporation acts as a form of energy that hurricanes not only need to start, but also need to fuel their core progression.
According to Meteorologist David Epstein of WGME, for hurricane development to occur “the water temperatures must be in the 80s not only at the surface but several feet below as well. This temperature structure to the sea only happens in the warm months. As the sun evaporates the ocean water that warm moist air rises and can, if conditions are favorable, create thunderstorms” which can eventually develop into hurricanes given the correct atmospheric conditions.
Daily composite sea surface temperature imagery, from Rutgers Costal Ocean Observation Lab, shows that there is a significant difference between temperatures on August 2, 2012 and September 1, 2012 (images shown above). However the National Weather Service is forecasting a warming trend of sea temperatures over the next 144 hours in the Gulf of Mexico.
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