The loop current is an area of warm water that travels up from the Caribbean, past the Yucatan Peninsula, and into the Gulf of Mexico. The loop current will transport areas of high ocean heat ...

The Loop Current in May 2005 looked strikingly similar to May 2022. (Nick Shay/University of Miami, CC BY-ND) I have been monitoring ocean heat content for more than 30 years as a marine scientist.

The Loop Current is an area of warm water that travels up from the Caribbean, past the Yucatan Peninsula and into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Loop Current is ominously far north this year—combined with other factors, it could make for a disastrous hurricane season.

A swirl of warm tropical water called the Loop Current is unusually far north this year. That’s bad news.

How did it affect Helene? As Helene moved into the mouth of Gulf, the storm stayed over the deep, warm waters of the Loop Current for around 200 miles, Walker said.

ORIGINAL: The loop current in the Gulf of Mexico has been known for quite some time but became notorious in 2005 for aiding in the rapid intensification of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The Loop Current is a warm and deep ocean current located in the Gulf of Mexico. It is fed by equatorial waters that enter the Gulf from the Yucatan Channel between Mexico and Cuba.

Wilma and Rita also crossed the Loop Current that year and became two of the most intense Atlantic hurricanes on record. The Loop Current in May 2005 looked strikingly similar to May 2022.

A current of warm tropical water is looping unusually far into the Gulf for this time of year, with the power to turn tropical storms into monster hurricanes.