Sea breezeA wind that blows from the sea onto the land. It blows by day, along the surface.
SunIts energy warms the land more quickly than the water.
Warmer landBy day the land is warmer than the sea. It warms the air above it.
Cooler seaBy day the sea is cooler than the land.
Rising air over landAir warmed by the land rises.
Sinking air over seaCooler air sinks toward the sea surface.
Low pressure over landA weak low forms at the surface over the warm land.
High pressure over seaPressure is higher at the surface over the cooler sea.
Day: return flow aloftHigh up, air flows from over the land out to sea.
Night: land breeze 8
Land breezeA wind blowing off the land out to sea. It blows at night, along the surface.
Cooler landAt night the land is cooler than the sea.
Warmer seaAt night the sea is warmer than the land.
Rising air over seaThe lighter, warmer air over the sea is pushed up.
Sinking air over landCooler air sinks over the land.
Low pressure over seaA weak low forms at the surface over the warmer sea.
High pressure over landPressure is higher at the surface over the cooler land.
Night: return flow aloftHigh up, air flows from over the sea back toward the land.
How this list was compiled: Every name and fact checked on 2026-10-03 in two independent sources. (1) NOAA National Weather Service, JetStream, The Sea Breeze, https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/ocean/sea-breeze : the sea breeze at the surface and the return flow aloft, the thermal low over the land, the high over the water, the rising and sinking air, and the same loop reversed for the land breeze at night. (2) University of Illinois, WW2010, Sea Breezes and Land Breezes (six pages from http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/fw/sea/htg.rxml ): the land warming faster by day and cooling faster at night, surface low over land and surface high over water by day, surface high over land and surface low over water at night, rising and sinking air, offshore flow aloft by day and onshore flow aloft at night. (3) University of Wisconsin, CIMSS, Sea and Land Breezes, http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/wxwise/seabrz.html : the land heating more quickly than water, air rising over the land, low pressure at the surface over land and high pressure over the ocean, air sinking over the water, the land breeze as the reverse. (4) National Weather Service Glossary, Sea Breeze and Land Breeze, https://forecast.weather.gov/glossary.php?word=SEA+BREEZE (the same agency as 1; not counted as a second source). (5) Wikipedia, Sea breeze, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_breeze : the two definitions, day and night, the land heating faster than the water, and the lower pressure over the water at night. (6) M. D. Foster, California Sea Breeze Structure and Its Relation to the Synoptic Scale, Naval Postgraduate School dissertation, 1996 (approved for public release), read on archive.org, https://archive.org/details/californiaseabre00fostpdf : the low over the land and the high over the water by day, rising air over the land and sinking air over the water, the return flow aloft toward the ocean, and the land breeze as the reverse case. The line about the Sun rests on 2, 3 and 5: source 1 says the Sun warms ground and ocean at the same rate and that the ground gives its heat back to the air. The name thermal low for the low over the land is in source 1 only; it is accepted when typed and not printed. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-03 from plain geometry. Own original drawing; nothing is traced or copied. Licence: own work
How it works
This land and sea breeze diagram worksheet draws one coast twice: by day, when the sea breeze blows onto the land, and at night, when the land breeze blows out to sea. Print it numbered, or quiz yourself.
Read the full guide
By day: the sea breeze
The land warms more quickly than the sea and warms the air above it. That air rises, and pressure at the surface falls. Over the sea, cooler air sinks and pressure is higher, so air flows onto the land along the surface. High up, air flows back out to sea.
At night: the land breeze
The land cools until it is cooler than the sea, and the loop turns around. Air rises over the warmer sea, sinks over the cooler land, and blows out to sea along the surface.
Each surface wind blows from the circle with many dots, high pressure, toward the circle with few dots, low pressure.
Questions and answers
What is the difference between a land breeze and a sea breeze?
A sea breeze blows from the sea onto the land during the day. A land breeze blows from the land out to sea at night. Each is named for the place it blows from.
Why does a sea breeze blow during the day?
By day the land warms more quickly than the water. Air warmed by the land rises, pressure at the surface over the land falls, and cooler air from over the sea flows in along the surface.
Does a sea breeze happen only beside the ocean?
No. The same breeze can blow along the shore of any large body of water, such as a large lake, where it is called a lake breeze.
Is there a land breeze and sea breeze worksheet with answers?
Yes. Print the numbered diagram, then print its answer key: the same sheet with the name of each numbered part on its line.