Synoptic Scale Influence On The Monterey Bay Sea Breeze

The diurnal fluctuations of the surface ambient wind associated with the sea-breeze are analyzed for the period May 01 through September 30, 1993 from a single station, Monterey airport, located on the southern Monterey Bay coast. Data analyzed included time series of wind speed, wind direction, clouds, precipitation and locally generated 3 hourly surface pressure analyses of California and the Pacific northwest. The characteristics of the sea-breeze circulation under varying synoptic-scale patterns are evaluated to determine the modifying roles of boundary layer stability, surface inversion strength, and low-level cloud amount on the resultant time of onset and peak intensity of the Monterey Bay sea-breeze. The primary modifying factor under all synoptic-scale pressure patterns was the boundary layer depth and stability with the differential heating taking longer to destabilize the boundary layer during the Trough regime.