Rapid Surface Intensification of the Gulf Stream Since 2014

Abstract The warm, swift Gulf Stream (GS) plays a key role in shaping weather and climate patterns across the North Atlantic. Using 31‐year (1993–2023) of continuous satellite altimeter observations, we identify a pronounced intensification of the free‐flowing GS after its separation from the coast beginning around 2014 and persisting thereafter, following a prolonged period (2005–2014) of weaker transport. This intensification coincides with a northward displacement and reduced meandering of the GS path, which appears to be linked to a spin‐up of the North Atlantic subtropical gyre. This gyre acceleration is largely driven by an increase in the negative wind stress curl, partially modulated by the two leading modes of atmospheric variability in the region: the North Atlantic Oscillation and the East Atlantic Pattern. Our analysis also suggests that GS intensification may have a local air–sea feedback leading to anomalous wind stress curl.