Figure 1
Temperature/Synoptic Conditions
Once the bundle is loaded, go to view then display
and click on mean sea level pressure. Then move the vertical postion to middle.
Next, move ahead to 18z on September 1st (1 PM EST) by clicking on the next
image button of the toolbar (next to the play button in the top right corner
of the display window). You should be able to see an image similar to Figure
1. This image is from the GFS model output. The GFS is a global forecast model
that is run 4 times a day out to 384 hours. The bundle displays color filled
contours of surface temperature and black contours of mean sea
level pressure. Also, the observed surface wind barbs are shown for 18Z.
You can see from the wind barbs that there is a sea breeze (flow onshore) at
1PM local time in Florida. Notice that the isobars (lines of constant pressure)
are very far apart pointing to a weak pressure gradient
and synoptic flow. Another important factor to the strength and direction
of the sea/land breeze is the shape of the coastline and location of coastal
mountains. In Florida, the shape of the coastlines can cause winds to
converge during the day or diverge at night. Also, vertical motion and
thunderstorms occur in regions where the sea breeze front
interacts with outflow boundaries and other sea breeze fronts. Although
this scenario is not shown in this module, the presence of coastal mountains
can affect the location of surface heating and the mountain/valley breezes associated
with the mountains can reinforce the sea breeze or converge with the sea breeze.
Figure 1