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We present results of four month-long numerical simulations of the troposphere over the Bay of La Paz, to describe basic seasonal features of the local system of land-sea breezes. The non-hydrostatic Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) regional atmospheric model was used to downscale the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) temperature, specific humidity and wind fields from their 32 km native horizontal resolution to 10.6 km and 3.5 km nested grids that adequately resolve breeze fronts. The NARR data were assimilated into the model solution using a Newtonian relaxation scheme with a weak temporal adjustment coefficient of 1 day-1. This was done to produce realistic large-scale wind fields while still allowing the model’s own solar radiation scheme to activate the local breeze system, which is not well resolved in the NARR data. Numerical simulations were carried out for January, April, July and October 2010. The nocturnal offshore breeze, which flows from the Baja California peninsula towards the Gulf of California, was found to be dominant over the Bay of La Paz during most of the year. Its influence decreased markedly in winter, when a weaker onshore breeze was observed. The model results clearly show the interaction over the Baja California peninsula of the onshore breezes coming from both the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California, with a convergence line forming during daytime hours over the peaks of the peninsula’s mountain range. The spatial structure of the breeze front over the Bay of La Paz is complex and highly variable throughout the seasonal cycle.

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