location is important to most studies of hydrodynamic and sedimentary pro- 
cesses. In this section, wind characteristics at the FRF are discussed based 
on measurements made four times per day. 
64. Winds at the FRF are dominated by tropical air masses which create 
low to moderate warm southern breezes, Arctic air masses which produce cold 
winds from northerly directions, and small-scale cyclonic, low pressure, sys- 
tems which originate either in the tropics (and move north along the coast) or 
inland (and move east offshore) and are generally responsible for the stron- 
gest wind speeds. The winds at the FRF are predominantly from northeast and 
southwest due to the influence of these air systems. 
65. Present year. Figure 6 shows the distribution of winds during 1982 
as 40.6 percent blowing from north-northwest to east-northeast and 26.1 per- 
cent from south-southwest to west-southwest. The annual resultant wind speed 
was 0.8 m/sec with an associated north-northeasterly direction of 26 deg 
(Table 5). 
66. The dominant wind direction changed with season, such that during 
January through March there was a mixture of northerly (arctic) and southerly 
(tropical) winds with frequent cyclones. However, northerly directions out- 
numbered southerly ones by two to one, while easterly and westerly directions 
were approximately even (Figure 7). The resultant wind speed was 1.9 m/sec, 
somewhat stronger than the annual resultant (Table 5). The resultant direc- 
tion was 350 deg, indicating a strong northerly tendency and that western 
Winds slightly dominated eastern wind directions. Over 15 percent of the 
time, the winds blew out of the north-northeast during this season. The wind 
speeds were not particularly strong, with 86.6 percent under 10 m/sec and only 
1.5 percent exceeding 14 m/sec. 
67. Low wind speeds and southerly directions during April through June 
are characteristic of the tropical trade winds. During this season southerly 
winds outnumbered northerly ones almost two to one. The resultant wind speed 
and direction were 0.8 m/sec and 179 deg, respectively. A distinct shift of 
direction occurred between April (resultant direction of 45 deg) and March 
(resultant direction of 196 deg). Ninety-three percent of the speeds were 
less than 10 m/sec. 
68. July through September was very mild with all speeds 12 m/sec or 
less. Although the winds blew 10 percent more frequently from the south 
rather than from the north, they were predominantly from northeast-east 
33 
