HotSpot Notes -- September 23, 1999 Mid-Summer 1999: NOAA satellite data indicated "HotSpots" surrounding North Andros Island in the Bahamas since July 27, expanding to South Andros Island through July 31. In early August, South Florida and the Straits, the eastern Bahamas and the north coast of Cuba showed 1degree C HotSpots, creating conditions conducive to coral bleaching. HotSpots were maintained between August 9- 28 in these areas, with the remainder of the eastern Caribbean starting to warm up. Late Summer 1999: In early September, the south-western corner of Puerto Rico exhibited 1 degree C HotSpots, followed by warming along eastern Hispaniola and the Lesser Antilles (Leeward and Windward Islands). By September 14, eastern Nicaragua, along with the north coast of Venezuela, the Netherlands Antilles, and Trinidad and Tobago had 1 degree HotSpots, with patchy HotSpots off the coast of Belize. HotSpots dissipated around September 18 from the Bahamas and northern Cuba but remained on the south side of Cuba, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola, with patchy HotSpots along the Nicaraguan coast. By September 21, the entire lower Caribbean showed 1 degree C HotsSpot anomalies. Our new Degree Heating Weeks (DHW) maps, depicting accumulated heat stress for the last 90 days (http://psbsgi1.nesdis.noaa.gov:8080/PSB/EPS/icg/dhw/dhw_new.html) indicate 1-3 DWH throughout the Caribbean, show concentrations of 4-8 DHW surrounding Andros Island (Bahamas) and the south-west Florida Keys, and 4-5 DHW along the lesser Antilles (Windward Islands). Please post your reports on coral bleaching to this site by completing (as much as possible) the coral bleaching reporting form on our main web page or by emailing us. A. E. Strong M. A. Toscano Alan.E.Strong@noaa.gov mtoscano@nesdis.noaa.gov 301-763-8102 x170 FAX: 301-763-8108 x188 http://manati.wwb.noaa.gov/orad