Scott,

Thanks for your input on sea breezes which I think still fall into the category of thermally driven winds. Hope you don't mind me asking if you think Pass A Grille a better spot for thermal sea breezes than Treasure Island? Or is it just random? One day PAG better and the next TI better. Also do the sea breezes generally pick up at any special time like late in the day as they do around Chicago?

This may sound weird, but I think the rotation of the earth can effect sea breezes. At launches where the water sits east of the launch the water is cooling and the land is still absorbing the heat of the sun. Therefore the air over the water cools and the land stays warm increasing the cold vs. heat differential fueling the late afternoon/early evening thermal. This happens regularly in Chicago which sits on the west coast of Lake Michigan with water to the east. Likewise, have seen it happen in Cocoa and Jupiter as well as Rimini on the Adriatic on the west side of Italy. Unfortunately the water on our Gulf around Tampa Bay sits to the west and stays warm as the land cools. This negates a normal thermal pull with the land pulling the cooler air ashore heating it and making it rise to be replaced by more cool air pulled on shore.

Regards,
Tim