offshore wind

[paulburton44]

Having an argument at the moment.....

Is an offshore wind blowing off the the land out to sea or off the sea towards the land

Help me clear this one up please...

 

[savageseadog]

Could be the wind blowing off the land to sea, or the wind out there offshore.

 

[Talbot]

offshore is blowing out to sea, onshore is driving you on to the rocks.

 

[tcm]

An "onshore breeze" defintitely blow towards the land, and is common as it is a result of the land heating up more quickly, the air above it rising, and the cooler air over the nearby sea area being drawn in as a result.

Thus an "offshore wind" blows from land towards the sea. But the neither the term - nor the effect - is too common.

You might see the effect in hotter countires, near mountains early in the morning - the land cools down overnight faster than the sea overnight and hence boats in (frinstance) some med anchorages will genereally be turned to face the offshore wind (more usually called offshore breeze) in the morning, and will likewise be spun to point bows out to sea facing the (usually more pronounced) onshore breeze in the afternoon.

 

[tcm]

yes, generally the phrases "onshore breeze" or "offshore breeze" relates specifically to the local littoral phenomenon.

The "offshore wind" is too confusing/ambiguous a term and wouldn't be used - i wd expect to hear/speak about the "wind offshore" to describe the nature/direction of the wind 10, 20 miles of more away from the coast - which could be in any direction.

 

[paulburton44]

thanks cleared that up.....bit to much depth but thanks...

I am going kiting tomorrow on the east coast and the wind is forecast west.... so it is an wind off the shore or offshore wind.....

 

[tazzle]

Um, stand on the dry area and the kite will fly out towards the wet blue-browny area

See UK wind map

 

[paulburton44]

not that easy with this sort of kite....

http://www.withamsailingclub.co.uk/kite.htm

 

[bilbobaggins]

Previous replies have sorted out which way it's blowing. However, one of the significant issues for your kite-sailing - and anyone else who uses 'small' craft like sailboards, planing dinghies, etc., - is that of 'fetch'. This means that, with the wind blowing *off the land*, there will be no wind-generated waves close to shore. However, there certainly will be, a little further out, and - on a strong-wind day - this can cause you problems getting back onshore.

Added to which, the wind strength increases as you move away from the the vicinity of the shore, 'cos the friction effect of the land ( trees, hedges, buildings ) is lost. So, an offshore wind can 'sucker' one into thinking that the sea conditions one seas close to the beach are benign. Not necessarily so!

Are you equipped for spending the night in Holland??

 

[paulburton44]

That was my argument saying an offshore wind was not good..

Where have all the usual north east wind gone ???

 

[tcm]

the winds are usuallly (well, always) referred to by the direction from which they come. You can remeber this by bearing mind that a northerly is cold - it comes from the north. The north wind doth blow and we shall have snow etc.

In the UK, the prevailing wind is from the south-west.

 

[BrianJ]

Re: oops

No way..when the north wiind blows we get DUST storms.....
he he he
BrianJ

 

[Lakesailor]

Re: oops

It may help to concentrate the mind.
Would you be happy to be caught engineless and dismasted with an onshore breeze (wind)?

 

[supermalc]

[ QUOTE ]
That was my argument saying an offshore wind was not good..

Where have all the usual north east wind gone ???

[/ QUOTE ]

Makes a change to WANT north east winds Paul. You know what they say at Boston "if the wind is in the north or the east, and or, the tree tops are moving, don't go out"

Well that's what all the old hands have told me this year.

I expect you know, but Mablethorpe north end beach is a marvelous place. Acres of sand even with the tide in, so put some wheels on, and don't worry about being blown out to sea /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I raced cars there once, in the early 70s.