FOX 4 WFTX - Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Naples News, WeatherForbidden Zone? How it could keep Southwest Florida beaches oil free.

Forbidden Zone? How it could keep Southwest Florida beaches oil free.

It's more than a decade old, but a study is shedding new light on how Southwest Florida may be spared from any oil hitting our beaches.

Take a look at the area in white...that's Southwest Florida and area meteorologists have named the forbidden zone.

Dr. Jeff Masters/ Meteorologist, www.WUnderground.com: "You don't get surface currents transporting oil to the coast along that stretch of West Florida coast..we call it the forbidden zone.

Rob: Mother Nature's way of protecting SW Florida?

Dr. Jeff Masters: Yeah, you guys are much better shape than the rest of the Gulf of Mexico".

So I described the basics of the forbidden zone but wanted more detail so I came to Jim Syoen..first I had to ask you had you ever heard of anything like this?

Jim Syoen: "First Time I heard about it was earlier today. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I know this graphic is a little bit detailed but its very important. this was a study done in the mid 90's...it was done over a 12 month period. It takes into account summer, fall, winter and spring. They had 194 probes out here in the Gulf of Mexico and remember the loop current isn't in the same place everyday this shows you the date from an entire one year study 194 probes out here and you can see how all the data kept that water off this surface well off of the Southwest Florida coastline"

Read more about Dr. Jeff Masters' "Forbidden Zone" report on his blog.