Sea surface temperatures break records again this summer

• Both in the Mediterranean and the Cantabrian Sea, record sea surface temperatures have been recorded: 25.13ºC in Bilbao/Vizcaya and 28.61ºC at Cabo de Gata.
• Puertos del Estado receives all information from its measurement networks in real time, and manages and distributes data on sea temperature and other variables.

09-09-2024 (Puertos del Estado Public Entity). Sea surface temperatures have reached new highs this summer, with some of the highest figures in recent history, according to measurements taken by Puertos del Estado’s buoy networks.

The highest sea temperature in July and August was 31.87ºC, recorded by the Dragonera buoy on August 12nd at 13:00 GMT (15:00 local time).

This same buoy, part of the Deepwater Buoy Network, also recorded the previous absolute sea temperature record of 31.36ºC in August 2022.

In the Deepwater Network, two other individual maximums were registered by the buoys at Bilbao-Vizcaya, with 25.13ºC on August 11 at 17:00 GMT (19:00 local time), and at Cabo de Gata, with 28.61ºC on August 21st at 01:00 GMT (03:00 local time).

Meanwhile, the Coastal Buoy Network—closer to ports and beaches—did not surpass last year's absolute record of 30.6ºC measured by the Melilla buoy in July 2023. However, individual records were set by the Tarifa buoy, with 26.1ºC on August 31st at 13:00 GMT (15:00 local time) and by the Algeciras-Punta Carnero buoy, with 27.3ºC on the same day at 14:00 GMT (16:00 local time).

PUERTOS DEL ESTADO MEASUREMENT NETWORKS

Puertos del Estado operates a Deepwater Buoy Network with 15 measurement stations, a Coastal Buoy Network with 12 stations, a network of 46 tide gauges along the Spanish coast, and a high-frequency radar network with 9 stations, jointly managed with other institutions. All information is received in real time by Puertos del Estado, which manages and distributes the data. (https://portus.puertos.es/).