It's summertime and the sea breeze is in full swing!

Let's see: 

          Daily highs in the mid-80's.  Check.
          Slight chance of afternoon showers/thunderstorms:  Check.
          Light southerly winds during the day.  Check.

Yep, it's summer at Santa Rosa Beach!  The large scale weather systems - cold fronts, surface low pressure systems, upper level troughs - have moved northward so for the immediate future our weather here will remain pretty much the same, i.e. perfect beach weather.  With partly cloudy skies every day make sure you use plenty of sunscreen as the strong Florida sunshine can quickly redden just about anyone's skin.

So why during the summer is there a chance almost every day for afternoon thunderstorms?  The answer lies in the sea breeze, which forms along the land/water boundary in the absence of other large scale weather features.  This article provides a very good explanation of why the sea breeze forms.

 Once this very localized circulation sets up during the afternoon it provides a lifting mechanism a bit inland from the shoreline which can often push up clouds with enough energy to create thunderstorms.  These popup storms don't usually last long before they rain themselves out and providing perhaps a few lightning bolts as Nature's fireworks.

Just another summertime beach attraction!