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The air rises, forming clouds, precipitation, and potentially, thunderstorms. This causes sea breezes to converge towards the central part of the peninsula. On the peninsula of Florida, winds are blowing easterly (from the east) off the Atlantic Ocean and westerly (from the west) off the Gulf of Mexico. (Adapted from graphic by NOAA).Īt certain locations, converging sea breezes can cause thunderstorms during the afternoon. Sea Breeze (Left) and Land Breeze (Right). This causes a small temperature gradient between the ocean surface and the nearby land at night and the wind will blow from the land to the ocean creating the land breeze.įigure A. This causes the low surface pressure to shift to over the ocean during the night and the high surface pressure to move over the land. The ocean, however, is able to hold onto this heat after the sun sets and not lose it as easily. At night, however, the blacktop has given up the added heat and is cool to the touch. During the day, the blacktop road heats up and becomes very hot to walk on. The land loses heat quickly after the sun goes down and the air above it cools too. The air over the ocean is now warmer than the air over the land. The sea breeze strength will vary depending on the temperature difference between the land and the ocean.Īt night, the roles reverse. The wind will blow from the higher pressure over the water to lower pressure over the land causing the sea breeze. To compensate, the air will sink over the ocean. Over the water, high surface pressure will form because of the colder air. The warm air over the land will rise throughout the day, causing low pressure at the surface.

However, water heats up much more slowly than land and so the air above the land will be warmer compared to the air over the ocean. The land absorbs much of the sun’s energy as well. Water is a good absorber of the energy from the sun. This breeze occurs most often in the spring and summer months because of the greater temperature differences between the ocean and nearby land, particularly in the afternoon when the land is at maximum heating from the sun.ĭuring the day, the sun heats up both the ocean surface and the land. I should already be familiar with: Temperature Gradient, Convergence and DivergenceĪ sea breeze describes a wind that blows from the ocean inland towards land. The fronts caused by the sea breezes along the coast can provide a trigger to daily thunderstorm activity in coastal areas, particularly along the peninsula of Florida. Why do I care? During the summer, the sea breezes are stronger than in winter because of the large temperature differences between land and ocean water that time of year. When the temperature of the air is low the precipitation occurs in the form of snow, sleet, or hail.Sea and Land Breezes describe the wind that blows onshore from sea to land during the day and blows offshore in the evening. These droplets grow bigger and bigger and fall down in the form of rain (precipitation). The water vapor condenses to form tiny droplets by the process of condensation. Water vapor goes into the atmosphere by evaporation from water bodies and transpiration by plants. This movement of air from land to sea is called the land breeze. Thus, during the night, the direction of the wind is from land to sea (high pressure to low pressure). Since, water cools down slower than land, the air above water would be warmer than the air above land. At night, both the land and the sea start to cool. The movement of air from land to sea is called the land breeze. This movement of air from sea to land is called sea breeze. As a result, the air over the sea moves into the region of low pressure.

Therefore, the air above sea remains comparatively cool. Sea water is not heated so rapidly as compared to land. In coastal areas, during the day the air above the land gets heated faster and starts rising, creating a region of low pressure below. The movement of air from sea to land is called sea breeze.