SST (2hr Composite)
ProThe freshest map we have — rebuilt about every five minutes from GOES-19, the weather satellite over the Americas, as fast as it publishes. Each spot shows its newest cloud-free look from the last two hours, so it is nearly complete, but a patch under cloud can be two hours old.
Every 5 minutes: Gulf, East Coast, Baja
More detail
RipIQ makes this layer itself, from the GOES-19 satellite's raw readings and NOAA's own cloud check. The newest water in it is about four to nine minutes old.
Where cloud stayed for the full two hours the map is blank. The layer covers the Gulf of America and the East Coast in full, and nearly all of Baja.
When you need to know exactly how old a number is, use SST (5min raw).
Use it to find where a break is right now, and trust the position of the break more than the degree figure. After several days of heavy haze or overcast the whole picture can read cold, so check the number against a buoy. It reads the skin of the water, so on a calm sunny afternoon it runs warm against your gauge, which reads about three feet down.
How it relates to the other temperature layers. SST (5min raw) is one single scan from the same satellite, with more blank spots, but every pixel the same age. SST (L3 Composite) and SST (L2) are NOAA's hourly maps from the same satellite, one to two hours old. SST (MUR 1 km) is a daily map with the cloud holes filled in by estimate. Use it for the full picture with no holes, and use this layer for the freshest look. SST (ACSPO 2km) is a daily nighttime map that leaves cloud blank. Sea Surface Temperature, from HYCOM (U.S. Navy model), is a forecast, not a measurement. All of them share one color scale. For temperature below the surface, use Water Temperature at Depth.
The time slider shows only the pictures that exist, so a few missing five-minute steps a day are normal. If the colors look wrong after you change settings, reset the range in Layer Settings. The default is 41.9 °F to 91.4 °F.
The numbers
| How often it updates | About every 5 minutes |
| How fresh it usually is | About 4 to 9 minutes for the freshest water; a spot under cloud can be up to 2 hours old |
| How detailed it is | The satellite's own sample over the Gulf is about 1.5 nautical miles |
| Where it covers | Gulf of America and East Coast in full; nearly all of Baja |
| Goes blank under cloud? | Yes, where there was no clear look in the last 2 hours |
| Observed or modeled | Observed, and made by RipIQ from NOAA's satellite readings. Nothing is filled in |
| What you see on screen | Fahrenheit by default, Celsius if you switch. Skin temperature |
Source: a satellite picture from the GOES-19 satellite.