Influence of Synoptic Sea-Breeze Fronts on the Urban Heat Island Intensity in Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas

When assessed using the difference between urban and rural air temperatures, the urban heat island (UHI) is most prominent during the nighttime. Typically, nocturnal UHI intensity is maintained throughout the night. The UHI intensity over Dallas–Fort Worth (DFW), Texas, however, experienced frequent “collapses” (sudden decreases) around midnight during August 2011, while the region was experiencing an intense heat wave. Observational and modeling studies were conducted to understand this unique phenomenon. Sea-breeze passage was found to be ultimately responsible for the collapses of the nocturnal UHI. Sea-breeze circulation developed along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico during the daytime. During the nighttime, the sea-breeze circulation was advected inland (as far as ~400 km) by the low-level jet-enhanced southerly flow, maintaining the characteristics of sea-breeze fronts, including the enhanced wind shear and vertical mixing. Ahead of the front, surface radiative cooling enhanced the near-surface temperature inversion in rural areas through the night with calm winds. During the frontal passage (around midnight at DFW), the enhanced vertical mixing at the leading edge of the fronts brought warmer air to the surface, leading to rural surface warming events. In contrast, urban effects led to a nearly neutral urban boundary layer. The enhanced mechanical mixing associated with sea-breeze fronts, therefore, did not increase urban surface temperature. The different responses to the sea-breeze frontal passages between rural (warming) and urban areas (no warming) led to the collapse of the UHI. The inland penetration of sea-breeze fronts at such large distances from the coast and their effects on UHI have not been documented in the literature.