Off the Pacific coast of southern Mexico, in the Gulf of Tehuantepec, strong northerly winds often create regions of strong mixing and cooling of ocean waters. These winds, known as tehuantepecers or “gap winds”, are generated as cold air masses surge southward across the Gulf of Mexico and are forced through a narrow mountain pass across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The resulting mixing creates conditions that are highly favorable for phytoplankton growth, as is evident by the high chlorophyll concentrations observed periodically in this region. Meanwhile, adjustment of the oceans to the enhanced momentum fluxes results in a number of curious circulation anomalies near the coast, such as various small eddies and squirts.

In this study, a high resolution, three-dimensional ocean model is used to attempt to simulate the response of the ocean to the tehuantepecer that occurred in conjunction with the March 13, 1993 Superstorm. The atmospheric dynamics of this particular event have been well-documented, and high quality output of a mesoscale atmospheric model (MM5) is used as boundary conditions for the ocean model. The temperature changes in the simulated ocean event are shown to be quite consistent in both magnitude and areal extent with those found using remote sensing estimates. The dynamics and kinematics of the ocean circulation anomalies are then described.