Here’s an example from Florida in July of 2018 showing how the sea breeze can produce thunderstorms. The sea breeze front is visible as the thin blue line moving slowly away from the coast. Here’s one example from coastal Maine in June of 2019. This means that even if there’s no precipitation present, the front is often visible close to radar sites where the radar beam is close to the ground. Cold dense air over the ocean then rushes inland to fill that gap, and the sea breeze is born.Īs the cool dense air moves inland, it picks up pollen, dust, small bugs, and other small particles along the way. Warm air is less dense than cold air, so it rises and an area of locally low pressure is created. As a result, the air over the land becomes quite warm relative to the air over the water. A day of solar heating might raise the temperature of the land by 20 or 30 degrees, while the water might only warm by a degree or two at best. Water has a higher specific heat capacity than land, meaning it takes much more energy to raise its temperature. Here’s a schematic showing the basic process behind the formation of sea breezes. This makes the sea breeze a key feature to understand if you’re trying to predict thunderstorm activity near the coast. Most sea breezes produce nothing more than a cool breeze for those impacted, but depending on the surrounding environment, they can either create or destroy thunderstorms. Simply put, sea breezes are circulations that develop in response to the differential heating of a landmass and nearby bodies of water by the sun. Sea breezes are features that you could practically set your watch to in places like Florida, and they make regular appearances all the way up the East Coast through the spring and summer months.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |