Terms of Use
By using oceanheat.report you agree to the terms below. Plain language version: this site displays public NOAA and Open-Meteo data and translates it for a general audience — it is not an operational forecast, and nothing here should substitute for official marine or weather guidance.
1. Acceptance
Your access to and use of this site is conditioned on your acceptance of and compliance with these terms. If you disagree with any part, please don't use the site.
2. Not an operational forecast — please read carefully
Nothing on this site constitutes an official weather forecast, marine advisory, emergency management guidance, or emergency directive of any kind. This includes — but is not limited to — sea surface temperature anomalies, heat classifications, basin status labels, coral bleaching alerts, hurricane fuel assessments, and all other ocean-heat-related content.
This site displays publicly available NOAA and Open-Meteo data and presents it in a consumer-readable format. The people who built it are not meteorologists, oceanographers, or government officials of any kind.
If you face a marine weather emergency — tropical cyclone, storm surge, coastal flooding — follow your local emergency management agency's instructions. For life-safety emergencies, call your local emergency number.
3. Data accuracy and limitations
Sea surface temperature data comes from the Open-Meteo Marine API (satellite and reanalysis data) and NOAA OI SST V2.1 via ERDDAP. Baselines are computed from the 1991-2020 WMO standard reference period. Data is aggregated and cached by a Cloudflare Worker that refreshes every three hours. There is an inherent lag between conditions in the real ocean and what this site reflects.
Anomaly classifications ("Near Average," "Above Average," "Well Above Average," etc.) are editorial interpretations of the data, not official government designations. Your reliance on any information on this site is entirely at your own risk.
4. Accuracy of guides
The educational guides on this site are written for a general audience. They simplify complex oceanographic and climate science topics. While we strive for accuracy, guides may contain simplifications, omissions, or information that becomes outdated as science advances. For authoritative climate science, consult NOAA, the WMO, or peer-reviewed research.
5. Intellectual property
The site's original content, design, and code are the property of the site operator unless otherwise noted. NOAA data is a work of the US federal government and is in the public domain. Open-Meteo data is used under its open-source license terms.
You may read, bookmark, and share links to pages on this site freely. You may not republish substantial portions of the site's content without permission.
6. User conduct
Don't use the site to scrape, overload, or otherwise degrade service for other users. Don't attempt to circumvent caching or security measures. Don't represent this site's content as official government guidance or operational forecasts.
7. Third-party links and services
This site links to third-party resources including NOAA, the NHC, the WMO, Open-Meteo, Google, and OpenStreetMap. We are not responsible for the content, accuracy, or practices of those third parties. Links are provided for convenience and do not constitute endorsement.
8. Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, oceanheat.report and its operator shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your access to or use of this site — including, without limitation, any decisions made in reliance on content presented here. The site is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, express or implied.
9. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the site operator from any claim, demand, loss, or expense — including reasonable legal fees — arising out of your misuse of the site or violation of these terms.
10. Changes to these terms
These terms may be updated from time to time. Material changes will be noted with a new effective date at the top of this page. Continued use of the site after changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated terms.
11. Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the United States without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Disputes not resolved informally will be subject to the jurisdiction of the competent courts in the operator's state of residence.
12. Contact
Questions about these terms? Email [email protected] or use the contact form.