Which term describes the wind that is offshore at night?

• A. Sea breeze
• B. Onshore wind
• C. Anabatic wind
• D. Land breeze

Answer: (D)

When coastal winds shift at night, it’s due to how land and sea heat and cool differently. During the day, the land heats up faster, causing air over the land to rise and drawing cooler air from the sea toward the shore—this is the daytime sea breeze, the onshore flow. At night, the land cools quickly while the sea remains relatively warmer, so air moves from the cooler land toward the warmer sea. That offshore flow is called a land breeze. So, the wind blowing away from shore at night—the wind offshore at night—is a land breeze. The other terms describe related, but different, situations: a sea breeze is the daytime onshore flow, an onshore wind is another name for that same daytime pattern, and anabatic wind refers to upslope winds on mountains.