New England Seabreeze - The High Temperature Paradox

April 2007

With "seabreeze" season on the way, it has reminded me of something that is never talked about, not even whispered about when it comes to comparing the climate of different cities: How LONG it stays near the high temperature of the day. Sound boring? Well, maybe a little perhaps, but let me spice things up. Here's a paradox for you: How can the spring and summer weather in Eastern Massachusetts be colder by day than our neighbors in northern New England (Burlington, Vt. as an example) even though Burlington has a colder average high temperature on record? The answer is that because of late day seabreezes, even though we will average warmer readings during the peak warming of the day, the early evening cooldown means we spend LESS TIME hovering near that warm high temperature. That's right! Temperatures are computed by the daily high and daily low when cities are compared to each other, but it would be a far different "picture" if the temperature was computed hour by hour. If you think that is impressive, considering how much more that rule "counts" right on the immediate coast where sometimes it can be in near 90 in May midday, followed by 50 just hours later due to the seabreeze! A little natural air conditioning can go a long way..

Todd

 

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A few examples of some additional reading on our unique weather phenomenon can be found at :

THE NEW ENGLAND SEA BREEZE – MESOSCALE STRUCTURAL DETAILS
Frank P. Colby, Jr. of UML

Simulation of the New England Seabreeze
Frank P. Colby, Jr. of UML

" The seabreeze circulation dominates the immediate coastlines around the world, and can control the diffusion of pollutants,  as well as the temperature and precipitation. We are  investigating how different weather models simulate  the seabreeze circulations along the east and south  coasts of New England."

New England Air Quality Study (NEAQS) LIDAR Information

Synoptic-scale controls on the sea breeze of the central New England coast

Samuel T. K. Miller and Barry D. Keim

Current Climate of the New England Region
NEW ENGLAND REGIONAL ASSESSMENT
Barry Keim

"New England weather and climate is arguably one of the most varied in the world. It includes extremes of both hot and cold temperatures, droughts, heavy rainfall, hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, and more. These great variations in New England weather are influenced by many factors which relate to its physical geographical setting, including its latitude and coastal orientation."

Coastal Boundary Layer Influence on Pollutant Transport in New England
Wayne M. Angevine
CIRES / NOAA Aeronomy Lab

Christoph Senff and Allen B. White
CIRES / NOAA Environmental Technology Lab

Michael Tjernström and Mark Zagar
Stockholms Universitet

Robert Talbot
AIRMAP, University of New Hampshire

A Geographical Study of New England Temperatures
P. E. Church
Geographical Review, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Apr., 1936),   pp. 283-292

and excerpt: