Land Breeze | Definition, Diagram, & Facts | Britannica

Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos land breeze Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics Images Quizzes Facts You Should Know: Weather Quiz Weather Words Vocabulary Quiz April Showers to March’s Lions and Lambs Contents Science Earth Science, Geologic Time & Fossils Earth Sciences CITE verifiedCite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style MLA APA Chicago Manual of Style Copy Citation Share Share Share to social media Facebook X URL https://www.britannica.com/science/land-breeze Feedback Feedback Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Feedback Type Select a type (Required) Factual Correction Spelling/Grammar Correction Link Correction Additional Information Other Your Feedback Submit Feedback Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites

land breeze meteorology Ask Anything Homework Help Written and fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors History Britannica AI Ask Anything Table of Contents Table of Contents Ask Anything

land breeze, a local wind system characterized by a flow from land to water late at night. Land breezes alternate with sea breezes along coastlines adjacent to large bodies of water. Both are induced by differences that occur between the heating or cooling of the water surface and the adjacent land surface. The land breeze is typically shallower than the sea breeze since the cooling of the atmosphere over land is confined to a shallower layer at night than the heating of the air during the day. Since the surface flow of the land breeze terminates over water, a region of low-level air convergence is produced. Locally, such convergence often induces the upward movement of air, fostering the development of clouds. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see clouds lying off the coast at night, which are later dissipated by the daytime sea breeze.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.