Ocean response to wind sheltering in the Southern California Bight

Abstract

A particularly warm surface oceanic wake persisted during the period 6–16 June 1999 in the south‐eastern part of Santa Catalina Island in the Southern California Bight. From satellite images, regional atmospheric model results and hydrographic measurements around Catalina Island, a strong correlation appears between observed sea surface temperature, wind‐stress and surface stratification. It is suggested that the warm island wake was probably due to lower turbulent mixing rates associated with wind sheltering effect. We argue that the sheltering effect may also account for a portion of the relatively warm sea surface temperature characteristic of the whole Bight, opposing previous arguments that temperature evolution of the surface ocean in this region is primarily driven by lateral advective fluxes.