Timelapse: Dramatic view of Helene’s landfall in Florida’s Big Bend
Timelapse footage captured a dramatic view of Helene when it made landfall in Horseshoe Beach, Florida.
The National Hurricane Center storm tracking map, a feature as familiar to Floridians as tourist season traffic, now calls the yawning sea cradled between Mexico and the Keys the Gulf of America.
Beginning around Feb. 13, the National Weather Service started updating its maps to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order to rename the estuarine-fed body of water.
Gone is the 484-year-old moniker first penned by an unknown cartographer who called it Seno de Mejicano, or the Mexican Gulf, according to Jack Davis, author of “The Gulf: The Making of An American Sea.”
A statement from the NWS said it is in the process of implementing the order titled “Restoring Names that Honor American Greatness.”
The U.S. Geological Survey followed suit the next day, posting a message Feb. 14 on its website that the U.S. Board on Geographic Names was directed to immediately rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
“A name change of this magnitude has multiple facets and requires the efforts of many,” the statement said. “Adoption of the new name has also been seen across the nation in commercial applications like Google Maps and Apple Maps.”
Private forecasting company AccuWeather said changes to its maps are still being rolled out.
The move by the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to amend its maps comes as the change draws ire from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, whose administration is threatening to sue Google.
Also, the Associated Press was barred from White House events over the news organization’s decision to continue to to refer to the Gulf as the Gulf of Mexico while also acknowledging the “new name Trump has chosen.”
“As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences,” a statement on its website says.
Yale Climate Connections, which hosts the popular Eye on the Storm column, will follow AP’s lead, said meteorologist Jeff Masters. Masters, who is the co-founder of Weather Underground, a former NOAA hurricane scientist, and a lead writer for the Eye on the Storm, said he worries that saying Gulf of America instead of Gulf of Mexico could confuse people during hurricane season.
NHC forecasts are used by all countries in the Atlantic basin, some of which may not acknowledge the name change.
“I’ve made one reference to the Gulf of Mexico since the name change was ordered, and I don’t plan to mention the foolish name change in any future posts. It’s the Gulf of Mexico,” Masters said.
Davis, whose 2017 book is a detailed history of the Gulf’s discovery and development, said he’s saddened by the change which he sees as an attempt to dominate the resource-rich body of water. The United States and Mexico almost equally split coastline along the Gulf, Davis said.
“When you put a name on a place, you claim it, and that’s what I see happening here,” Davis said. “I doubt the international community will recognize this kind of conquest.”
The International Hydrographic Organization is one group that works to standardize nautical charts of the world’s seas, oceans and navigable waterways to promote uniformity. It could not be immediately reached for comment but spokeswoman Sarah Hones Courture told WLRN South Florida that the group has not updated its names list since 1953.
Hugh Willoughby, a distinguished research professor at Florida International University and former director of NOAA’s Hurricane Research Division, said he’s not a fan of the name change but doesn’t believe it will hurt forecasting.
“Meteorologists are smart, they may be embarrassed by it but they are probably the most cooperative group of scientists in the world,” Willoughby said.
Kimberly Miller is a journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate, weather, and the environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to [email protected]. Help support our local journalism, subscribe today.
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Publish date : 2025-02-18 04:29:00
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