Water temperatures in Florida exceeded 100 degrees for the second day in a row Monday, and some meteorologists have predicted this could potentially be the hottest seawater ever measured. Weather records for seawater temperature are unofficial.
An initial reading on a buoy at Manatee Bay hit 101.1 degrees Monday evening, and the same buoy showed an online reading of 100.2 degrees on Sunday night, according to National Weather Service meteorologist George Rizzuto.
"It seems plausible," Rizzuto said if that was the world’s highest recorded sea surface. "That is a potential record."
"This is a hot tub. I like my hot tub around 100, 101. That's what was recorded yesterday," said Yale Climate Connections meteorologist Jeff Masters. The water in a Jacuzzi is typically between 100 and 102 degrees.
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Rizzuto said nearby buoys measured in the 98- and 99-degree range. A 2020 study listed a 99.7-degree mark in Kuwait Bay in July 2020 as the world's highest recorded sea surface temperature.
Water temperatures have been in the upper 90s in the area for more than two weeks.
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Masters reiterated, "We've never seen a record-breaking event like this before."
The Yale meteorologist and the University of Miami tropical meteorologist Brian McNoldy said the hot temperatures may not be accepted as a record because the area is shallow, potentially disqualifying it from the top mark. Also, the seagrass in it may be influenced by warm land in the nearby Everglades National Park.
McNoldy said the high temperatures are still "amazing."
The two consecutive days of 100-degree measurements give credence to the readings, McNoldy said.
Just 26 miles (40 kilometers) away, scientists have said prolonged hot water surrounding Florida has resulted in devastating coral bleaching and even the death of the resilient reefs.
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Ian Enochs, lead of the coral program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, said he found bleaching at Cheeca Rocks in the Florida Keys.
Andrew Ibarra, a researcher with NOAA, took his kayak to the area because of the hot water and said, "I found that the entire reef was bleached out. Every single coral colony was exhibiting some form of paling, partial bleaching or full out bleaching."
Some coral even had died, he said.
Bleaching does not kill coral but weakens it and could result in its death, Enochs said.
Florida’s potential record comes as sea surface temperatures worldwide have broken monthly records for heat in April, May and June, according to NOAA.
Areas across the United States and around the globe have witnessed record-setting temperatures this month — over land and sea.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
