The Weather Thread

[altmin]

Something Crucial Didn’t Happen in the Gulf of Panama This Year

A new study suggests changes in wind patterns may have caused a striking ecological failure in Central America.

gizmodo.com

The Gulf of Panama has experienced an annual wind-driven oceanographic phenomenon called upwelling for at least as long as records of it have existed. In 2025, however, seasonal upwelling failed, and the consequences could be drastic.

In a study published Tuesday in the journal PNAS, a Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute-led team suggests that weakening trade winds caused upwelling to fail in the Gulf of Panama this year for the first time in at least four decades. Consequently, the gulf’s waters did not experience the usual lowered temperatures, and fisheries were less productive.

...

“The Gulf of Panama’s (GOP) seasonal upwelling system has consistently delivered cool, nutrient-rich waters via northerly trade winds every January–April for at least 40 [years]. Here, we document the failure of this normally highly predictable phenomenon in 2025,” the researchers wrote in the study.


“Data suggest that the cause was a reduction in Panama wind-jet frequency, duration, and strength, possibly related to the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) position during the 2024–2025 La Niña, though the mechanisms remain unclear,” the researchers added.

 

[rodoheel]

Second summer is here today and tomorrow. Then looks like we go back to fall Sunday.

I still don't trust it. It's too early. Highs in the seventies and lows in the 50s in late August/early September? Still feels like we'll get punished by a random week of 90s temps in late September to make up for this.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Looks like we might have a tropical system to follow for next week.

 

[nycfan]

 

[nycfan]

 

[aGDevil2k]

I still don't trust it. It's too early. Highs in the seventies and lows in the 50s in late August/early September? Still feels like we'll get punished by a random week of 90s temps in late September to make up for this.

That week is here

 

[rodoheel]

That week is here

 

[nycfan]

 

[nycfan]

 

[nycfan]

A couple of those lines look like they are pointing directly at my house.

 

[rodoheel]

A couple of those lines look like they are pointing directly at my house.

Certainly not looking ideal for the SC coast

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Looks like we might have to deal with Imelda next week in NC and SC.

 

[05C40]

Link: In Georgia, a ‘Sponge Park’ Floods So the Neighborhood Won’t

The concept of a "sponge park" dead center in a frequently flooded area makes so much sense that I am expecting St. Donald of Mar-a-Lago, the first of his name, to denounce it, if he ever hears about it.

 

[nycfan]

 

[rodoheel]

Link: In Georgia, a ‘Sponge Park’ Floods So the Neighborhood Won’t

The concept of a "sponge park" dead center in a frequently flooded area makes so much sense that I am expecting St. Donald of Mar-a-Lago, the first of his name, to denounce it, if he ever hears about it.

I think there's a park like this in Greenville, SC too.

 

[05C40]

I think there's a park like this in Greenville, SC too.

Is this it? - Unity Park — a promise fulfilled

 

[Carolina Fever]

GFS model run



Euro model run

 

[rodoheel]

Is this it? - Unity Park — a promise fulfilled

Yeah, I think that's it. I think I heard the mayor or some other official speak about it at an event down there; if I recall correctly he was praising how it helped mitigate the Helene flooding. Here's some further detail:

How Greenville, SC's Unity Park was designed to handle flooding

City engineers watched their work get tested to start off 2023.

gvltoday.6amcity.com

 

[rodoheel]

GFS model run



Euro model run

Looks like a recipe for an awfully wet few days in Charleston, among other places

 

[Carolina Fever]

Hopefully, Imelda will stay away and not bring all her shoes with her.