1Cold Event in the South Atlantic Bight During Summer of 2003: Anomalous Hydrographic and Atmospheric conditions.

2Abstract. Unusually cool sea-water temperatures were observed along much of the U.S. eastern seaboard during the summer of 2003. Large scale wind patterns were upwelling favorable during this period. In the South Atlantic Bight, the presence of salinity stratification in late spring, due to larger than average river discharge, preconditioned the shelf waters to favor shoreward penetration of upwelled cold water. The resulting thermal stratification had significant effects on the dynamical and biological processes in the shelf. The characteristics of the upwelled water corresponded with water coming from the deeper part of the Gulf Stream. The cold water entered the shelf in the Cape Canaveral region through shelf-break frontal eddies and then it was transported by along-shelf currents into the Georgia Bight region, where it was observed. The water column in the inner-shelf was partially mixed during periods of increased upwelling-favorable wind conditions. In the mid- and outer-shelf the upwelling of cold water acted as a feedback mechanism to preserve the stratified conditions. 31. Introduction and Background During the summer of 2003 an intense upwelling event took place in the South Atlantic Bight (SAB). The SAB (Figure 1) region extends from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, t