Sea Breeze

A sea breeze is an onshore wind driven by differential daytime heating between land and sea. Solar heating warms the land faster than the high-heat-capacity water, so air over land rises and surface pressure falls, drawing cooler marine air inland behind a sea-breeze front that can trigger coastal cumulus and thunderstorms. The circulation closes with a return flow aloft. It typically reaches 10 to 20 km inland by afternoon, with speeds of 10 to 20 knots, and reverses to a weaker offshore land breeze at night when the land cools below the sea. The Coriolis force rotates a well-developed sea breeze through the day.