LOUISVILLE, Ky. — If you're like me, you're probably always dreaming of your next beach vacation. There are certain factors that make our time in the sun and sand so enjoyable - two of those are land and sea breezes.
As the names suggest, the two breezes occur in coastal areas or areas with adjacent large water bodies. Water and land have different heating abilities. Water takes a bit more time to warm up and is able to retain the heat longer than land does.
During the day, when the sun is up, the land heats up very quickly and the air above it warms up a lot more than the air over the water. The warm air over the land is less dense and begins to rise. Low pressure is created. The air pressure over the water is higher with cold dense air, this air moves to occupy the space created over the land. The cool air that comes along is called a sea breeze.
At night, the reverse happens. The land quickly loses its’ heat whiles the water retains its’ warmth. This means the air over the water is warmer, less dense, and begins to rise. Low pressure is created over the water. Cold and dense air over the land begins to move to the water surface to replace the warmer rising air. The cool breeze from the land is called a land breeze.
Either way, the breeze is blowing, a trip to the beach sounds like something we all need right about now!
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