Why Does the Beach Breeze Change Direction in the Evening?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the phenomenon of beach breezes and their directional changes between day and evening. During the day, the sand heats up more than the water, causing air above the sand to rise and creating a breeze that blows towards the shore. In the evening, the ground cools rapidly, becoming cooler than the ocean, which leads to warmer air rising over the ocean and cooler air from the land moving out to replace it, reversing the breeze direction. The participants also touch on the concepts of latent heat and specific latent heat, with a formula provided for clarification.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of convection currents
  • Knowledge of specific heat capacity
  • Familiarity with latent heat concepts
  • Basic principles of thermodynamics
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the principles of convection and how they affect local weather patterns
  • Study specific heat capacity and its role in temperature changes
  • Explore the concept of latent heat and its applications in meteorology
  • Investigate the effects of land and water temperature differences on coastal breezes
USEFUL FOR

This discussion is beneficial for meteorologists, environmental scientists, and anyone interested in understanding coastal weather phenomena and thermodynamic principles.

Phyzor
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Specific Heat Capacity help!

This question is simple but I'm a little confused, it involves beach breezses, temperature, and convection.

Sand on the beach get much hotter than water on sunny day so air above sand heats up and rise due to convection then cold air moves in from over water making the breeze blow TOWARDS shore right?

But why does the beach breeze move AWAY (reverse direction) from the shore later in the evening?
 
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Originally posted by Phyzor
But why does the beach breeze move AWAY (reverse direction) from the shore later in the evening?
Because being a good absorber of radiant heat means being a good radiator of heat. The ground cools quickly and gets cooler than the ocean. So the warmer (relatively) air over the ocean rises and the cooler air from the land moves out to replace it.
 
Thanx a lot.:smile:

BTW is this the formula for LATENT HEAT or SPECIFIC LATENT HEAT: l=Q/m
rearanged: Q=m.l
 

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