Sea-Breeze
Development of thermally driven circulation between sea and land, often resulting in organized convective cloudiness in the vicinity of coastlines.
The Sea-Breeze is a circulation that develops due to differential heating of air over land and sea. As the sun heats the boundary layer over land, the resulting pressure gradient causes the movement of low-level air from the sea to land (Sea-Breeze) with a return flow aloft. The Sea-Breeze circulation is able to strengthen and/or changing (veering) the surface wind in large scale synoptic onshore circulations. The existence and intensity of the Sea-Breeze depends strongly on seasonal and latitudinal factors and on the time of day. In tropical and subtropical coastal regions the Sea-Breeze is a regular phenomenon throughout the year bringing a pleasant cooling. At higher latitudes it is a common feature during spring and summer only, clear skies, strong insolation and a temperature difference between land and sea at its maximum are relevant and important factors for the Sea-Breeze to develop.