Gulf Stream Ocean Current Forecast

Gulf Stream Ocean Currents

5 Day Forecast of Current and Sea Surface Height  (FOAM model)

NEW - See our High Resolution Cloud Free Sea Surface Temperature Data for the Gulf Stream.

Area Covered

The Gulf Stream is one of the strongest Western Boundary ocean currents in the world. It is driven by surface wind patterns and differences in water density. Surface water in the north Atlantic is cooled by winds from the Arctic. It becomes more salty and more dense and sinks to the ocean floor. The cold water then moves towards the equator where it will warm slowly. To replace the cold equator-bound water, the Gulf Stream moves warm water from the Gulf of Mexico north into the Atlantic.

The Gulf Stream transports as much as 3.99 billion cubic feet of water per second, an amount greater than that carried by all of the world's rivers combined. Current speeds are often in excess of 5kts.
Although the average annual flow is in an Easterly direction across the Atlantic, the numerous eddies cause strong currents to flow in the opposite direction at many points. Negotiating these eddies is a major challenge for Navigators on a West - East Transatlantic passage or for passages from the US continent to Bermuda.

Ocean models such as FOAM seek to replicate and forecast the behaviour of the Gulf Stream - in particular the position of the major eddies and the Sea Temperature. We have selected FOAM as our operational choice for this region beause validation has shown it to be one of the more consistently accurate models. See FOAM vs the US RTOFS model here

Example images

Gulf Stream North of Cape Hatteras where the main current flows to the North East out into the Atlantic in a series of huge, volatile and energetic eddies. 

Further South the strongest current stays often close to the edge of the Continental Shelf

Gulf Stream at Florida where hot water exits the Gulf of Mexico in a narrow band

Model validation is performed by comparing Satellite SST with different model outputs.

Here is FOAM vs RTOFS (US National Centre for Enironmental Prediction) compared with Cloud Free Satellite SST (GHRSST or OSTIA)