Which of the following wind systems is driven by local thermal differences between land and sea, resulting in onshore breezes during daytime and offshore breezes at night?

💡 Solution & Explanation

Diurnal land and sea breezes are local thermal circulation cells where differential heating and cooling rates of land and water masses generate pressure gradients that reverse direction between day and night. Katabatic winds are gravity-driven flows of dense cold air down mountain slopes, while monsoons represent seasonal continental-scale wind reversals driven by hemispheric pressure shifts. Foehn winds are warm, dry down-slope winds occurring on the lee side of mountain barriers. Local coastal winds significantly moderate thermal extremes in littoral zones.