Air-sea observed surface temperatures and their distributions in hurricanes, Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

Observed near-surface air and sea-surface temperatures for three hurricanes -- Hilda (1964), Betsy (1965) and Camille (1969) -- were studied. Composites were made for each of the storms. These composites were oriented to true north, had diameters of 400 n mi and covered the period in the Gulf of Mexico prior to the time the hurricanes reached maximum intensity. The mean air temperature was less than the mean sea-surface temperature, and this difference varied from l.2C in the outer region of the composites to 2.9C near the center. In the 24-hour period prior to maximum hurricane intensity, the difference was 4.3C near the center. The data also indicated that the distribution of air-sea temperature difference within the hurricanes varied by quadrant with the southeast quadrant containing the largest over-all average difference (2.4C) and the southwest quadrant averaging l.lC.