Mean Sea-Surface Temperature
OceansPhysical EnvironmentAverage sea-surface temperatures between 1990 and 2020
NOAAMean sea-surface temperatures shown using patterns of latitudinal bands extend roughly east to west. The coldest temperatures are shown in the northern latitudes. Temperatures warm as latitudes near the equator.
Sea-surface temperatures create latitudinal bands extending east to west, influenced by ocean currents and continents. In the tropics, temperatures range from 24.0 to 32.0 degrees Celsius; in the midlatitudes, from 8.0 to 23.9 degrees Celsius; and in higher latitudes and polar regions, from negative 2.0 to 7.9 degrees Celsius. Significant deviations occur along the Atlantic coast of western Europe, where temperatures are warmer than the east coast of North America at the same latitude, and along the Pacific coast of Canada, the Atlantic coasts of Canada and the northeastern United States, and the western coasts of South America and southern Africa, where waters are cooler than expected. The hottest ocean areas are between Indonesia and Australia (30.0 to 32.0 degrees Celsius), followed by tropical parts of the western Pacific and Indian oceans, and small areas along the coasts of West Africa and Central America (28.0 to 29.9 degrees Celsius).
-2.0 to 0.0 | 0.0 to 1.9 | 2.0 to 3.9 | 4.0 to 5.9 | 6.0 to 7.9 | 8.0 to 9.9 | 10.0 to 11.9 | 12.0 to 13.9 | 14.0 to 15.9 | 18.0 to 19.9 | 20.0 to 21.9 | 22.0 to 23.9 | 24.0 to 25.9 | 26.0 to 27.9 | 28.0 to 29.9 | Value | Continental Shelf | Barren or Sparsely Vegetated Areas | Bad Creek Hydroelectric Power Plant SC USA | Bath County Pumped Storage Hydroelecric Power Plant VA USA | Beauharnois Hydroelectric Power Plant Canada | Bersimis-1 Hydroelectric Power Plant Canada | Blenheim Gilboa Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Plant NY USA | Bonneville Hydro Power Plant OR USA | Boundary Dam Hydro Power Plant WA USA | Castaic Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Plant CA USA | Chief Joseph Hydro Power Plant WA USA | Churchill Falls Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | G M Shrum (W.A.C. Bennett) Hydroelectric Power Plant Canada | Glen Canyon Dam Hydro Power Plant AZ USA | Grand Coulee Hydro Power Plant WA USA | Helms Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Plant CA USA | Hoover Dam Hydro Power Plant AZ/NV USA | John Day Hydro Power Plant OR USA | Kettle Rapids Hydroelectric generating Station Canada | La Grande-1 Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | La Grande-2-A Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | La grande-3 Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | La grande-4 Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | Limestone Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | Long Spruce Hydroelectric Geneerating Station Canada | Ludington Hydro Power Plant MI USA | Manic-2 (Jean-Lesage) Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | Manic-3 (Rene-Levesque) Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | Manic-5 Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | Manic-5-PA Hydroelectric generating Station Canada | Mica Creek Hydroelectric Power Plant Canada | Muddy Run Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant PA USA | Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant MA USA | Outardes-3 Hydroelectric Power Plant Canada | R.H. Saunders Hydroelectric Power Plant Canada | Raccoon Mountain Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant TN USA | Revelstoke Hydroelectric Power Plant Canada | Robert Moses Niagara Hydro Power Plant NY USA | Robert-Bourassa Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | Rocky Mountain Pumped Storage Hydro Hydro Power Plant GA USA | Rocky Reach Hydro Power Plant WA USA | Sir Adam Beck II Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | The Dalles Hydro Power Plant OR USA | Toktogul Hydroelectric Power Plant Kyrgyzstan | Wanapum Hydro Power Plant WA USA | |
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| 1.06% | 0.769% | 0.553% | 0.725% | 0.603% | 0.825% | 0.239% | 0.135% | 0.206% | 0.342% | 0.126% | 0.317% | 1.60% | 0.778% | 4.46% | 0.994% | 4.35% | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||