Weather buoy tropical Pacific Ocean helped study the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Moored weather buoys range from in diameter, while drifting buoys are smaller, with diameters of . Drifting buoys are the dominant form of weather buoy in sheer number, with 1250 located worldwide. Wind data from buoys has smaller error than that from ships. There are differences in the values of sea surface temperature measurements between the two platforms as well, relating to the depth of the measurement and whether or not the water is heated by the ship which measures the quantity. The first known proposal for surface weather observations at
The Blob (Pacific Ocean) The Blob (Pacific Ocean) The Blob is a large mass of relatively warm water in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of North America. It was first detected in late 2013 and continued to spread throughout 2014 and 2015. Sea surface temperature indicated that The Blob persisted into 2016, but was thought to have dissipated later that year. By September 2016, "The Blob" resurfaced and made itself known to meteorologists. This warm water mass is unusual in ocean conditions and is considered to have a role in the formation of the unusual weather conditions felt in the Pacific Coast of