Long-Term Sea Surface Temperature Variability along the U.S. East Coast

Abstract Sea surface temperature variations along the entire U.S. East Coast from 1875 to 2007 are characterized using a collection of historical observations from lighthouses and lightships combined with recent buoy and shore-based measurements. Long-term coastal temperature trends are warming in the Gulf of Maine 1.0° ± 0.3°C (100 yr)−1 and Middle Atlantic Bight 0.7° ± 0.3°C (100 yr)−1, whereas trends are weakly cooling or not significant in the South Atlantic Bight −0.1° ± 0.3°C (100 yr)−1 and off Florida −0.3° ± 0.2°C (100 yr)−1. Over the last century, temperatures along the northeastern U.S. coast have warmed at a rate 1.8–2.5 times the regional atmospheric temperature trend but are comparable to warming rates for the Arctic and Labrador, the source of coastal ocean waters north of Cape Hatteras (36°N). South of Cape Hatteras, coastal ocean temperature trends match the regional atmospheric temperature trend. The observations and a simple model show that along-shelf transport, associated with the mean coastal current system running from Labrador to Cape Hatteras, is the mechanism controlling long-term temperature changes for this region and not the local air–sea exchange of heat.