Nighttime offshore breeze moving air from land toward the sea.

• A. Land Breeze
• B. Sea Breeze
• C. Monsoon
• D. Nor'easter

Answer: (A)

Coastal winds are driven by differences in heating between land and sea. At night the land cools quickly, becoming cooler and denser, which creates higher surface pressure over land. The sea stays warmer, so the air above it remains relatively less dense. Air moves from the higher pressure over land toward the lower pressure over the sea, producing a breeze that travels from land to sea—the land breeze. This is different from daytime conditions, when the land heats up and air rises there, drawing in cooler air from the sea (a sea breeze). Monsoon and nor'easter are different, larger-scale patterns or storms, not the regular nighttime offshore breeze described.