Based on data collected from 14 buoys in the Gulf Stream, this study examines how hourly air–sea turbulent heat fluxes vary on sub-daily timescales under different boundary layer stability conditions. The annual mean magnitudes of the sub-daily variations in latent and sensible heat fluxes at all stations are 40 and 15 W·m−2, respectively. Under near-neutral conditions, hourly fluctuations in air–sea humidity and temperature differences are the major drivers of sub-daily variations in latent and sensible heat fluxes, respectively. When the boundary layer is stable, on the other hand, wind anomalies play a dominant role in shaping the sub-daily variations in latent and sensible heat fluxes. In the context of a convectively unstable boundary layer, wind anomalies exert a strong controlling influence on sub-daily variations in latent heat fluxes, whereas sub-daily variations in sensible heat fluxes are equally determined by air–sea temperature difference and wind anomalies. The relative contributions by all physical quantities that affect sub-daily variations in turbulent heat fluxes are further documented. For near-neutral and unstable boundary layers, the sub-daily contributions are О(2) and О(1) W·m−2 for latent and sensible heat fluxes, respectively, and they are less than О(1) W·m−2 for turbulent heat fluxes under stable conditions.

Observations show that the northeast Pacific (NEP) is a fog-prone area in winter compared with the northwest and central Pacific where fog rarely occurs in winter. By synthesizing observations and reanalysis results from 1979 to 2019, this study investigates the atmospheric circulation and marine atmospheric boundary layer structure associated with marine fog over the NEP in winter. Composite analysis shows that the eastern flank of the Aleutian low and the northwestern flank of the Pacific subtropical high jointly contribute to a northward air flow over the NEP. Under such conditions, warm and moist air flows through a cooler sea surface and facilitates the formation of advection-cooling fog. The air near the sea surface in foggy areas is cooled by the downward sensible heat flux. The smaller upward latent heat flux (∼10 W m−2) compared to the surrounding area (>60 W m−2) demonstrates that the moisture originates from the advection instead of local evaporation. The lower (at 925 to 875 hPa) and stronger (up to 0.08 K hPa−1) inversion layer, compared with cloudy cases and the turbulence in the lower atmosphere (below 975 hPa), also promotes fog formation and evolution. Approximately 68% of all fog cases (42242) show positive differences between surface air temperature (SAT) and sea surface temperature (SST), while 32% are negative, during southerly winds. Composite analysis of the latter shows lower specific humidity above the inversion bottom compared to the former. Dry air