Serene Subtropical Sunrise
The first light of dawn spreads calmly over the Gulf Stream, silhouetting several small cumulonimbi. The line of convective towers was located along a land-breeze front about 20 miles offshore. Land-breeze fronts act like weaker versions of their daylight counterparts, sea-breeze fronts. In a land-breeze flow, cool land air flows seaward over relatively warm water. On occasion, the lift along them is strong enough to support showers and thunderstorms. In South Florida, it is common for land-breeze convection to move shoreward as the flow reverses to sea-breeze shortly after sunrise, sometimes surviving well inland. This was a special scene, particularly coming less than a month after the mass mayhem of Hurricane Andrew. If I need to relax, I can just look at this picture.
Coral Gables FL (12 Sep 92), looking SE