Weather Words: Sea Breeze

Have you spent time at the beach and noticed that right on que the storms fire up around mid afternoon, forcing you to run for cover? Only to then pass by and the sun returns. If so, then you have probably experienced storms associated with the sea breeze.

The sea breeze is a very localized, wind-driven system that is triggered by the land and sea warming at different rates.

Here’s how it develops:

• During the day, the sun warms the landmasses faster than the ocean, causing the air above the land to warm as well, creating a weak area of low pressure.
• While this is happening, the cooler air over the water is forced downward, and begins to push inland.
• This inland push of cooler air is more dense and forces the warmer air over land to rise. The sharp difference in air temperature creates a small frontal boundary.
• As the front marches inland, it often brings a line of showers and thunderstorms to a localized area.

Once the seabreeze passes, temperatures can drop by as much as 15-20 degrees. While this phenomenon is often associated with the ocean, it can occur with any large body of water, such as the Great Lakes.

Jennifer Gray is a weather and climate writer for weather.com. She has been covering some of the world's biggest weather and climate stories for the last two decades.