Discussion
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were both associated with
anomalously warm sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico
(mostly Region 2*) during the month of August 2006, in particular.
Hurricane Wilma became a record-breaking third Category-5 hurricane
of the season in October, in the wake of exceptionally high Sea
Surface Temperature (SST) recorded in the Western Caribbean (Region
4; September 2006 plot).
Standardized Time Series
The time series plots below are based on the Hadley SST dataset
from 1871-1981, and the NOAA OI V2 after that. Data has been
standardized by the monthly climatology (1971-2000) and is area
averaged.
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Hurricane Images |
Katrina
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Rita
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Wilma
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