Observations and numerical modelling of Lake Ontario breezes

Abstract

Analysis of two years of land‐based data shows that the Lake Ontario breeze develops on 30% of the days during summer. It typically develops in mid‐morning and persists until the late evening when it is replaced by a well developed land‐breeze regime. Simulations of 4 cases with the Colorado State University mesoscale model show good agreement with observations and suggest that local lake breezes are strongly influenced by adjacent water bodies (e.g. Lake Erie), the elongated shape of the lake, and the large‐scale wind direction. With gradient flows across the long axis of the lake, a broad band of along‐lake flow develops during the afternoon (easterly winds during southerly gradient flows and westerly winds during northerly gradient flows). Furthermore, during west‐to‐northwesterly gradient flow a nocturnal cyclonic eddy is predicted at the western end of the lake. These results imply that wind‐field models applied in the vicinity of Lake Ontario should incorporate the entire lake in their modelling domain.