OK, now I am starting to worry about these water temps...

[twofinbluna]

Anyone else starting to worry about how warm water temps still are out there? They are way above normal- 45 at some of the buoys still, and it is almost February! December, January and February are really important in terms of cooling the water down, and I do not see any changes to this mild pattern coming anytime soon. And with the lack of snow, there will be no snow melt to cool the water temps down long after the cold weather goes away. At this rate we are going to have 70 degree water by mid-June! Not good.

Praying for a rapid weather shift that brings in cold weather and snow for the entire months of February and March...

[CaptainAlex]

Bluefins, many between #200-#300lbs, are in Rhode Island Sound; 9 were caught in gillnets on Coxes Ledge & I heard 2 other encounters by codfish jiggers around thick bait near BI; one hooked up and got their jigging reel spooled ...
... all today.
January 26th.
... politics aside, I believe the ocean is getting too warm

[gmoney]

northeast channel buoy 42F, georges bank buoy 45F, east scotia slope 52F!!!!!! nantucet shoals buoy 47F!!!!!

yikes

[John from Madison CT]

Does anyone know what the average temps should be this time of year?

[CaptainAlex]

http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/dsdt/cwtg/natl_tmap.html

... seems about 5-6 deg above normal this year in S New England

[rirockhound]

... politics aside, I believe the ocean is getting too warm

Amen....

[keithj]

Let's not get too excited. Temps were well below average last winter. I think it just happens to be a warmer than normal winter season but nothing that I'd consider an emergency... If we get a cooler, rainier April or May we may find ourself right around the average.

[DGOOD]

Let's not get too excited. Temps were well below average last winter. I think it just happens to be a warmer than normal winter season but nothing that I'd consider an emergency... If we get a cooler, rainier April or May we may find ourself right around the average.

100% right! It's easy to take a short term observation and draw long term conclusions. Example... In the 1970's the average global temperatures had dropped, which prompted scientists to suggest that man had driven the Earth into a Global Cooling phase. Thirty-Forty years later many of the same scientists are claiming that we have now irreversibly entered a Global Warming era. Many have realized their own hypocrisy and grouped this all under "Climate Change". I wish I could make off-the-cuff predictions and get paid!

[iguana1]

Not going to touch the Climate Change debate, but just the physics of the whole thing. I think the water temp deviation now probably has almost no effect on summer temps. The water column is pretty deep and we are only seeing surface temps that are driven in the short term by air temps. Long terms temps are much less variable and are also driven by currents. My understanding is that the Labrador current is the primary driver of our temperatures north of the cape. The Labrador current strength is much more a function of the winds and other climate issue far north of us.

There is a much scarier scenario in the long term as there is documented evidence that the Gulf Stream has weakened by about 30%. The Gulf Stream is driven by cold, saline water in the far North Atlantic sinking traveling south along the floor of the Atlantic and upwelling driving the GS north. Warmer weather in the Arctic combined with ice-melt is slowing this 'conveyer belt'. Historically, the Gulf Stream has shut down for periods. Great for skiing in the UK, but would take away all of our good pelagics. I personally think that the slowing of the GS is why we no longer get powerful inshore eddies that hit 20 fathoms....

[rirockhound]

Not going to touch the Climate Change debate, but just the physics of the whole thing. I think the water temp deviation now probably has almost no effect on summer temps. The water column is pretty deep and we are only seeing surface temps that are driven in the short term by air temps. Long terms temps are much less variable and are also driven by currents. My understanding is that the Labrador current is the primary driver of our temperatures north of the cape. The Labrador current strength is much more a function of the winds and other climate issue far north of us.

There is a much scarier scenario in the long term as there is documented evidence that the Gulf Stream has weakened by about 30%. The Gulf Stream is driven by cold, saline water in the far North Atlantic sinking traveling south along the floor of the Atlantic and upwelling driving the GS north. Warmer weather in the Arctic combined with ice-melt is slowing this 'conveyer belt'. Historically, the Gulf Stream has shut down for periods. Great for skiing in the UK, but would take away all of our good pelagics. I personally think that the slowing of the GS is why we no longer get powerful inshore eddies that hit 20 fathoms....

Got a refernece article to that?
the slow/shut down of the gulf stream got real popular when 'Day after tomorrow' came out... it has happened in the geologic past, but requires a huge a amount of freshwater... I haven't seen any numbers near 30% reduction, yet....