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A Lagrangian‐particle‐tracking experiment has been conducted using Regional Ocean Modeling System to determine physical factors that controlled the occurrence of the record‐breaking massive green tide along the southern coast of the Shandong Peninsula (SP) in 2008. The numerical results reveal that the southerly wind in May is responsible for the offshore movement of the green tide from the Jiangsu Province and the easterly wind in June is responsible for its extension up to the coast of the SP. From the analysis of 30 year wind fields, it was also found that the wind patterns in 2008, which were very unique and rare, provided the most favorable conditions for the migration of the bloom to the SP. Through analyzing the pathway of particles, a recurrent upwelling region due to tides was found between the Jiangsu coast and the western Yellow Sea where the massive green tide bloomed. This area seems to provide nutrients for the green tide blooms. In particular, it is estimated that the nutrient supply in 2008 was large because the upwelling occurred during a spring tide. These results suggest that the massive green tide along the SP in 2008 occurred due to the combination of a recent rapid expansion of seaweed aquaculture, unique wind patterns, and nutrient supplies due to strong tidal forcing in blooming regions. This implies that the massive green tides in the SP could occur again as a very rare event if all conditions become favorable for the blooming and migration in the future.

Satellite‐based sea surface temperature (SST) measurements revealed an abnormal cooling anomaly over the Yellow Sea (YS) in the summer of 2011. Using in situ hydrographic profiles, meteorological fields, and an ocean circulation model with a passive tracer experiment, we identified the cold SST anomaly and its connection with the YS Bottom Cold Water (YSBCW), which occupies the central part of the YS below the thermocline in the summer. The summer SST anomalies in the YS showed three cold peaks in 1993, 2003, and 2011 over the past 20 years, but the reasons for the cooling events were different, as one was due to weakened surface heating and the other was attributed to mixing with the YSBCW. In 1993 and 2003, relatively weak surface heating made the surface water cooler compared with that during the other years, whereas in 2011, a strong vertical mixing of water was induced by a typhoon that passed through the central YS, causing the surface water to cool by ∼8°C and the bottom water to warm up by ∼4°C. A tracer experiment further confirmed that the vertical heat transfers between the warm surface and the cold bottom water masses when the typhoon passed through the YS interior.

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