nationwide, with a large percentage of these sites located in or near large
metro regions. The company’s consumer services business model is driven
by keeping recreational water enthusiasts abreast of the highly varying
wind behavior in nearshore waters. The very bays, sounds, and rivers
where sea breezes reach their maximum intensity. This highly varying
physical commodity, combined with the lack of observing locations within
the coastal zone set the stage for WeatherFlow’ s original business plan.
Why the lack of observations in an area where many weather parameters
vary significantly in both space and time? Surface observation networks
within the United States has and generally still are aviation based, thus a
rather small percentage of all observations are located in regions frequently
visited by sea breeze circulations. Even buoy observations have been less
than optimum for helping to fill this observing gap as nationwide, they are
numbered only in the dozens, and most are located too are offshore to
experience sea breeze circulations.
This paper will take advantage of a few of the gem observing sites that
are well sited, like KRK Airport (Brooklyn (NYC)), Logan (Boston), TF
Green (Providence), along with numerous WeatherFlow sites to compare
and contrast the variability in wind speed with nearby sites that lie in less
urban settings. To aid in understanding the true driving factors, seasonality
and moisture (antecedent rainfall, relative humidity and cover) will be
altered, as well as, urban land use, coastal geomorphology, and variability
in sea surface temperatures.
The urban sea breeze can be modeled, but to be done accurately, spatially,
temporally, and to the proper magnitude, it must be observed properly. Only
recently have observing assets, radar, and sufficient in-situ ben in place that this
may be achieved.
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