Satellite data showed that California coastal winds weakened enough to prevent cold upwelling water from breaking through the warm surface water during the Pacific 'Blob', even though ocean-buoy pressure data appeared to show normal wind behavior.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by National Geographic article detailing the study's methodology and findings, and independently corroborated by NASA Earthdata's feature on 'The Blob,' both attributing the discovery to Chelle Gentemann's research team. [tier=unverified indep_score=0.5 clusters=1 claim_tier=notable] [kind-backfill 2026-09-16: kind=empirical eligibility=medium] [harvest 2026-09-25: +1 source(s) on new hosts; tier unverified->silver indep=1.0 clusters=2]
Sources
- A Striking New View of the Pacific 'Blob' (seed:science_and_space)
- https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/news/feature-articles/blob (corroboration)
- https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2016GL071039 (corroboration)