The Loop Current: A River of Warm Water Winding Through the Gulf

Warm water from the Caribbean does not simply pass by the Gulf of America; it loops through it. The Loop Current carries that water up past Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, into the Gulf, around toward Florida and out again, to become part of the current that runs up the U.S. East Coast.

The Loop Current, large and warm in the center of the Gulf of America, while winter-chilled water draining the Mississippi River watershed surrounds the bayous and bays of Louisiana. Image from the NOAA Environmental Visualization Lab. Credit: NOAA.

Its path

From the south, the Gulf is fed by warm Caribbean water that enters between the Yucatan Peninsula and Cuba. That flow forms the Gulf Loop Current, which curves east and south along Florida's coast and leaves through the Straits of Florida. From there it is known as the Florida Current, and it flows into the Gulf Stream, heading north along the eastern coast of the U.S.

A current that changes shape

The loop is variable. Sometimes the current barely enters the Gulf before turning toward the Atlantic. At other times it reaches nearly to the coast of Louisiana before swinging back toward the Florida Strait.

Sources

Based on "What is the Loop Current?" from NOAA's National Ocean Service, a work of the United States government in the public domain.