The generation of internal waves by advecting wind stress and air pressure fields is considered. For the open ocean, wind stress values of 1 dyn/cm2 and pressure changes of 10 mbar can generate internal displacement of the order of meters during resonance, but stringent limits are placed on the variation of the advection velocity of the atmospheric field. Also, random atmospheric turbulence is shown to be an ineffective energy source. Wind stress forcing excites higher-order internal wave modes comlaraale in amplitude to the lowest mode, while for air pressure forcing, only the lower modes are significant. The presence of one lateral boundary alters the dynamics of the response to advecting fields. A low-frequency (ω<f) Kelvin wave can propagate along the boundary, and an additional resonance point can occur when the component of advection velocity along the boundary equals the phase velocity of an internal wave in the linear portion of the dispersion curve. Low-frequency oscillations in moored temperature data taken during the passage of hurricane Inez through the Tongue of the Ocean. Bahamas, are in qualitative agreement with predictions of wind stress generation in the presence of a boundary.