Observational records spanning the past 35 years are reanalyzed to identify Loop Current intrusion events leading to eddy separation. Satellite observations, including satellite altimetry, ocean color, and sea surface temperature, facilitate this reanalysis and allow nearly continuous monitoring of Loop Current intrusion and eddy separation from the late 1970s onward. In contrast to earlier published records, there is a pronounced variation in the frequency of eddy separation as a function of season even in the time period before continuous altimetric sampling became available over 20 years ago. Empirical orthogonal function analyses of the altimetric record are used to identify the dominant forcing mechanism of the annual variability in the Loop Current intrusion and eddy separation.