Coastal wind stress variability along the northern Gulf of Mexico

Nine to eleven years of wind data were obtained from C-MAN stations along the northern rim of the Gulf of Mexico. These data were converted to pseudo-stress at a height of 10 m. Rotary spectra show strong variability in the weather band and the sea breeze band. Significant spatial variability is also observed. Energy in the weather band is most pronounced during the winter months and in the sea breeze signal during summer. Low-passed stress variance ellipses are stable along the central Texas coast, but become more variable from Louisiana through west Florida.