This interactive module is part of an online university-level tropical synoptic meteorology course, which helps international meteorologists meet basic instructional requirements. In the module, we discuss:

• Mesoscale, thermally-forced circulations (i.e. land-sea breeze and mountain-valley breeze), including
  • How they are formed and their diurnal cycle
  • Factors that modify thermally forced circulations
  • The weather associated with thermally forced circulations, particularly convection and other significant weather
• Interactions of mesoscale, thermally forced circulations with other atmospheric phenomena, including
• Intersection of mesoscale circulations and of mesoscale circulations with convective outflow boundaries
• Thermally forced circulation interactions with monsoonal and trade wind flows
• The impact of thermally forced and interacting circulations at various scales on the diurnal cycle of precipitation in the tropics, and
• A case example from the Lake Victoria basin, showing complex thermally forced circulations, outflow boundaries, and synoptic scale flow.