Sea surface temperature the passing of a hurricane primarily as the result of mixed layer deepening and surface heat losses. In the wake of several day long Saharan dust outbreaks across the adjacent northern Atlantic Ocean, sea surface temperatures are reduced 0.2 C to 0.4 C (0.3 to 0.7 F). Other sources of short-term SST fluctuation include extratropical cyclones, rapid influxes of glacial fresh water and concentrated phytoplankton blooms due to seasonal cycles or agricultural run-off. The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) is important for how external forcings are linked with North Atlantic SSTs. El Niño is defined by prolonged differences in Pacific Ocean
The Blob (Pacific Ocean) of Queensland observed the first ever mass bleaching event for Hawaiian coral reefs in 2014, and attributed it to the blob. Research from the University of Washington found positive temperature anomalies in the NE Pacific Ocean (upper ~100 m, greater than 2.5 °C, with temperatures at the coast below normal) for the winter period of 2013–2014. Heat loss from the ocean during the winter time was suppressed. During spring and summer 2014 the warmer sea surface temperature anomalies reached coastal waters. The anomaly may have had a significant effect on the unusually warm summer of 2014, with record high temperatures