Author Institution: Department of Geography, California State University ; Department of Geography, Santa Ana Colleg

Hannes, Gerald P.

Hannes, Susan M.

The Ohio Journal of Science

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62 B.C. MCCARTHY Vol. 85Copyright © 1985 Ohio Acad. Sci. 0030-0950/85/0001-0062 $1.00/0BRIEF NOTESUMMERTIME AIR CONVERGENCE OVER THE MARBLEHEADPENINSULA, OHIO1GERALD P. HANNES, Department of Geography, California State University, Fullerton, CA 92634SUSAN M. HANNES, Department of Geography, Santa Ana College, Santa Ana, CA 92706OHIOJ. SCIENCE 85 (1): 62-64, 1985The diurnal wind systems and tem-perature structures of capes, peninsulas,and small islands have not been adequatelydescribed in the literature in comparison tothe coverage of the land-sea breeze circu-lation. Yoshino (1975) reviewed the litera-ture prior to 1975 on the climatology ofthese coastal areas. Defant (1951) andHaurwitz (1947) described the basic me-chanics of the land-sea breeze system. Thedetails of the lake breeze circulation weredocumented by Biggs and Graves (1962),Estoque (1981), Estoque and Gross (1981),and Moroz (1967). Eichenlaub (1979) de-scribed the general climatology of theGreat Lakes region, including a generaloverview of the lake breeze. Ballentine(1982), Bellaire (1965), and Thomas(1964) presented specific information con-cerning the effects of the Great Lakes on'Manuscript received 21 May 1984 and in revisedform 11 December 1984 (#84-32).weather and climate. Harman and Hehr(1972) reported on the double lake breezeof the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.A peninsula should generate a con-vergence zone during the summer monthsdue to land-water thermal contrasts(Pielke 1974, Schroeder and Buck 1970).Basically, during the late spring-earlysummer, the land becomes warmer thanthe water. As the land warms considerablyduring the afternoon hours, the air pres-sure decreases slightly, and an onshorepressure gradient develops. The air shouldtherefore flow from the lake to the land,creating a lake breeze. A convergence zoneshould form near the center of a peninsulaif lake breezes occur simultaneously fromtwo sides.The purpose of this report is to docu-ment and describe a portion of the sum-mertime mesoscale surface wind patternsthat formed over the Marblehead Pen-insula, Ohio. No other published paperhas analyzed the climate of this area. TheOhioJ. Sci. MARBLEHEAD CONVERGENCE ZONES 63Marblehead Peninsula is located in north-ern Ohio approximately 64 km east ofToledo. It extends roughly 20 km in aneast-west direction, averages four km in anorth-south direction, and is surroundedon three sides by Lake Erie and SanduskyBay. The general topography of the pen-insula is flat with the exception of somemodification by quarrying. The Marble-head Limestone Quarry consists of 1012 haand is situated in the center of the easterntip of the peninsula. The general relief isabout 25 m.Ten sampling locations were establishedon the eastern one-fourth of the peninsulato determine the surface wind field duringthe following time periods: one week inlate May and early June 1982, one weekduring the fall of 1982, and two weeksduring July 1983. The easternmost sta-tions were approximately four km fromthe westernmost, and the northernmostwere three km from the southernmost.Wind speed data were obtained from ahand-held Science Associates digital ane-mometer at nine of the locations. A com-pass was used to determine wind direction.The Marblehead Coast Guard Station(4l°32'3O"N, 82°43'30"W) provided theMARBLEHEAD PENINSULA, OHIO31 MAY 1982 1035-1120 ESTwind data for the 10th location.This preliminary report presents themesoscale air circulation on 31 May 1982,a representative day of the formation of theMarblehead convergence zone. The0700 Eastern Standard Time (EST) dailysurface weather map for 31 May 1982 (notincluded in this note) indicated that a lowpressure system located over Wisconsintraveled eastward toward Ohio. By 0700on 1 June, this low had migrated intoeastern Michigan. The circulation patternsthat developed on the Marblehead Pen-insula on 31 May are shown in figures 1and 2. Note that EST is used rather thanDaylight Savings Time; this is consis-tent with the Department of Commerce(NOAA) who uses Standard Time in thecompilation of the daily weather maps.During the morning hours (fig. 1), a gen-eral westerly and southwesterly airflowexisted. However, by the late afternoon-early evening (fig. 2), the Marblehead con-vergence zone had developed. The stationslocated on the northern coast registered anortheasterly airflow, whereas the southernsites recorded southerly or southeasterlyflow. Wind speeds ranged from calm to3.6 m/sec. Velocities up to 6.2 m/secMARBLEHEAD PENINSULA, OHIO31 MAY 1982 1835-1930 ESTFIGURE 1. Surface airflow 31 May 1982, 1035 to1120 EST.FIGURE 2. Surface airflow 31 May 1982, 1835 to1930 EST.MARBLEHEADQUARRYMARBLEHEADQUARRY64 G. P. HANNES AND S. M. HANNES Vol. 85have been recorded at similar times onother days during this initial study. Thesevalues are consistent with the findings ofEichenlaub (1979) concerning Great Lakeslake breezes. In addition, other obser-vations revealed that the convergence zonedid not develop under the influence ofstrong synoptic wind patterns.The formation of surface wind con-vergence zones on peninsulas is usually adaytime summer t ime convectively-induced phenomenon. Details on the exactformation and decay of the MarbleheadPeninsula convergence zone are unknownat this time. Land-water thermal contrastsare the major cause. Another dominatingfactor is, of course, the general surface aircirculation of the entire Midwestern re-gion. A preliminary report of a select dayhas been presented here to establish thepresence of air convergence on the pen-insula; a dense network of permanentweather stations would better ascertain thedetails of the lake breeze circulation, in-cluding the possibility of increased con-vective cloud cover and rainfall in this area.LITERATURE CITEDBallantine, R.J. 1982 Numerical simulation ofland-breeze-induced snowbands along the west-ern shore of Lake Michigan. Mon. WeatherRev. 110: 1544-1553.Bellaire, F. R. 1965 The modification of warmair moving over cold water. Proc. 8th Conf. GreatLakes Res. Inst., Univ. Mich., Ann Arbor.249-256.Biggs, W. G. and M. E. Graves 1962 A lakebreeze index. J. Appl. Meteorol. 1: 474-480.Defant, F. 1951 Local winds. Compendium ofMeteorology, Boston, Amer. Meteor. Soc.655-672.Eichenlaub, V. 1979 Weather and climate ofthe Great Lakes region. Univ. Notre Dame Press,Notre Dame, IN. 335 p.Estoque, M. A. 1981 Further studies of a lakebreeze Part I: Observational study. Mon.Weather Rev. 109: 611-618.and J. M. Gross 1981 Further studiesof a lake breeze Part II: Theoretical study.Mon. Weather Rev. 109: 619-634.Harman, J .R . and J. G. Hehr 1972 Lakebreezes and summer rainfall. Annals Assoc.Amer. Geogr. 62: 375-400.Haurwitz, B. 1947 Comments on the seabreeze. J. Meteorol. 13: 1-8.Moroz, W. J. 1967 A lake breeze on the easternshore of Lake Michigan: Observations and model.J. Atmos. Sci. 24: 337-355.Pielke, R. A. 1974 A three-dimensional numer-ical model of the sea breezes over south Florida.Mon. Weather Rev. 102: 115-139.Schroeder, M.J. and C. C. Buck 1970 Fireweather. Agricultural Handbook 360. U.S. Gov-ern. Print. Office, Washington, DC. 229 p.Thomas, M. K. 1964 A survey of Great Lakessnowfall. Proc. 7th Conf. Great Lakes Res. Inst.,Univ. Mich., Ann Arbor. 294-310.Yoshino, M. H. 1975 Climate in a small area.Univ. Tokyo Press, Tokyo, Japan. 549 p.

Brief Note: Summertime Air Convergence over the Marblehead Peninsula, Ohio

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Brief Note: Summertime Air Convergence over the Marblehead Peninsula, Ohio

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