by Warmth of other mares for him generally icy atlanticat least for these shores. It had not happened since the record was taken in Mar del Plata., and truly the data is surprising. It is that the temperature of the sea at the surface reached its all-time high in Januaryof almost 25 degrees, the same temperature as this Tuesday, for example, was taken in Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro.
The data was revealed by Physical Oceanography Office of the National Institute of Fisheries Research and Development (Inidep): “The sea surface temperature in Mar del Plata during January 2024 increased from the 18.0°C recorded on day 1 to the maximum of 24.7°C on the 29th“. The average here is above 21°.
By then, Mar del Plata was going through a string of hot days and clear skies, with temperatures always above 30°. Spectacular beach days just in the fortnight when the city had the largest crowd.
It remained to know the measurement, which Inidep always reveals on a monthly basis, but who then he got in he noticed it; surfers without having to get into their wetsuits to stay for a long time riding the waves and determined bathers, stripped of that indecision that usually appears as soon as the water reaches their ankles, diving in determinedly in search of refreshment, which was precisely what the sea did not have to offer at those hours.
The rise had already been going on since December, when researchers classified the average of the measurements obtained at sea as an “anomaly”, since the water temperature during that month was the highest in the last 10 years.
“Abnormally warm,” they stated in the report issued by the prestigious institute. The sea surface temperature was 19.7°C. “It is the third consecutive year with an anomalously warm monthly average, higher than the December average of the complete series,” they explained then.
We obtain the data with a thermometer installed at the Naval Hydrography Service Coastal Observation Station, at 5-minute intervals. To validate the observations, they compare them with weekly measurements taken at the North breakwater dock, where Inidep is based, and with the average monthly climatological value and the monthly quartiles calculated with the records acquired from January 2013 to date.
“The high water temperatures at the sea surface could be a consequence of high air temperatures along with skies with little cloudiness, especially from the 22nd of the month,” the researchers explained to this newspaper.
Until Tuesday the 16th – they revealed – the temperature oscillated around the monthly average value, established at 21.8°C, since the 17th. remained above the threshold which determines the highest values recorded in the series during the period 2013-2024, at 22.8°C, favored by predominant winds with a component from the North sectorthe high air temperatures on the surface (maximum temperatures above 30 °C on most days from day 22) and the little presence of clouds.
“Comparing the main monthly statistics with those calculated from the complete record of the EOC series (2013 to present), during January 2024 it was recorded the absolute monthly maximum of the 24.7°C series, in addition to the increase in all the main statistics measured, with average apartments of 0.9°C and 1.6° at the minimum,” they explained.
They will always be lower at these latitudes, but the maximum recorded on January 29 in Mar del Plata – this newspaper corroborated – occurs some days on beaches in Brazil, such as in Angra dos Reis, this Tuesday, or in Manguinhos, Buzios, this Wednesday Wednesday both cities of Rio de Janeiro.
The unusual sea temperature in Mar del Plata those days of January fell on Tuesday the 30th: according to the scientists’ reading, it could be due to the upwelling of colder water from the bottom to the surface caused by the persistent action of winds from the NE sector, which could transport surface water away from the coast.
“The marked decrease in water temperature seems to respond to an upwelling event, caused by the persistence of winds with a northern component. In these phenomena, the wind generates a transport of surface water away from the coast, causing the rise of colder water from the bottom“, they said.
These days, after a weekend with a lot of people and carnival and anniversary celebrations, Mar del Plata recovers its usual midweek pulseand the ambient temperatures averaging 20° and the sea water at the historical average, 21°, to test before the dive.
Mar del Plata. correspondent
