The Local winds around the world are formed through the heating of land. In coastal regions, the sea breezes and land breezes are important factors in a location’s prevailing winds. The sea is warmed by the sun more slowly because of water’s greater specific heat compared to land. As the temperature of the surface of the land rises, the land heats the air above it by conduction. The warm air is less dense than the surrounding environment and so it rises. This causes a pressure gradient of about 2 millibar from the ocean to the land. The cooler air above the sea, now with higher sea level pressure, flows inland into the lower pressure, creating a cooler breeze near the coast. At night, the land cools off more quickly than the ocean because of differences in their specific heat values. This temperature change causes the daytime sea breeze to dissipate. When the temperature onshore cools below the temperature offshore, the pressure over the water will be lower than that of the land, establishing a land breeze, as long as an onshore wind is not strong enough to oppose it.
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Name
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Nature of wind
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Place
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Chinook (Snow eaters)
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Hot, dry wind
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The Rockies mountains
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Foehn
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Hot, dry wind
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The Alps
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Khamsin
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Hot, dry wind
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Egypt
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Siroco
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Hot, moist wind
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Sahara to the Mediterranean Sea
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Solano
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Hot, moist wind
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Sahara to the Iberian Peninsula
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Harmattan (Guinea Doctor)
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Hot, dry wind
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West Africa
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Bora
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Cold, dry wind
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Blows from Hungary to North Italy
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Mistral
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Cold wind
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The Alps and France
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Punas
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Cold dry wind
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Western side of Andes Mountain
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Blizzard
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Cold wind
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Tundra region
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Purga
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Cold wind
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Russia
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Levanter
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Cold wind
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Spain
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Norwester
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Hot wind
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New Zealand
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Santa Ana
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Hot wind
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South California
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Karaburun (black storm)
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Hot dusty wind
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Central Asia
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Calima
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Dust-laden dry wind
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Saharan Air Layer across the Canary Islands
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Elephanta
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Moist wind in monsoon
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Malabar coast
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