i'm making no statement regarding ssts and tropical cyclone movement. my point is that higher ssts are able to sustain hurricane strength (and in the case of VERY warm ssts increase it), so that if there were any hurricanes headed up the east coast, they could maintain intensity for a longer duration with warmer than average SSTs.

while temps of 26 degrees centigrade (approximately 79 degrees farenheit) and above are favorable for hurricane development, the warmer the ssts are along the coast (they are currently below 79F just south of Long Island, but are nudging past 80 as far north as New Jersey), the more chance for a strong (or even weak) hurricane to remain so all the way up the coast...