While there is a direct relationship between the thermocline topography and the geostrophic current system (e.g. ridging associated with the North Equatorial Current and North Equatorial Counter Current), the relationship between thermocline topography and sea surface temperature (SST) is more subtle. The thermocline in the northeastern tropical Pacific has a zonally oriented trough-ridge-trough structure that terminates in a bowl and dome system offshore of Costa Rica. The trough-ridge-trough structure iscaused by the reduction in the trade winds in the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The dome/bowl system is formed by the wind stress curl patterns resulting from Central American Cordillera gap winds interacting with the ITCZ. The thermoc line bowl is in theheart of the North East Pacific Warm Pool, while SST above the Costa Rican dome is anomalously cool. In contrast, beneath the ITCZ the thermocline ridge brings cold waternear to the surface; yet this region is considered the thermal equator and has some ofthe warmest surface waters on the globe. The EPIC enhanced TAO moorings along95W lie in the path of the Tehuantepec wind jet, along the western edge of the Costa Rica Dome, and on the migratory path of the ITCZ. In this preliminary study, 95W mooring data are examined in conjunction with satellite wind, sea surface height, rain, and SST data to identify the structure and evolution of the thermocline topography, in relation to the ITCZ and gap winds.