The Sun, the Ocean, and Weather

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to explain how the Sun and the ocean work together in the water cycle and change our weather.

The Sun is a giant ball of hot gas, and its energy reaches Earth every day. When that energy hits the Gulf of Mexico, the top layer of ocean water gets warm. Some of that warm water turns into an invisible gas called water vapor. This change from liquid water to gas is called evaporation. The ocean is huge, so it sends a lot of water vapor into the air.

That water vapor rises. Higher in the sky, the air is cooler. The cool air makes the water vapor turn back into tiny drops of liquid water. This change is called condensation, and it is how clouds form. When enough drops join together and get heavy, they fall as rain, sleet, or hail. Then the water flows into rivers and back to the ocean, and the whole cycle starts again.

Think about a hot summer afternoon in Houston or Corpus Christi. The morning is sunny and sticky. That stickiness is water vapor from the Gulf sitting in the air. By afternoon, the Sun has heated the ground and the air, and all that vapor rises and builds tall, dark clouds. Suddenly a thunderstorm pours rain on your neighborhood. The Sun and the ocean made that storm together.

This pattern happens again and again, which is why places near the coast usually get more rain and feel more humid than places far inland. Strong storms, like hurricanes, also grow over warm ocean water because there is so much energy and water vapor there.

Try it: If the Sun warmed the ocean more than usual for many days, would you expect more water vapor in the air or less?