Measurements taken from aboard ship and from nearby fixed sites during a March 1985 research cruise near Cape Hatteras document some interesting bounary layer features of the coastal front which have been largely unexplored. The front, although commonly associated with the development of coastal cyclones is nevertheless shallow and often difficult to detect due to the scarcity of routinely available observations offshore.

During the particular case described, the coastal front, undetected by routine analyses, divides air masses of quite different character. To the east of the surface wind shift line a warm, statically unstable boundary layer is associated with strong fluxes of latent heat from the sea surface. To the west, however, the boundary layer is cold and stable with negligible air-sea zone carries the warm moist air westward toward eastern North Carolina. Subsequent moderate precipitation and cyclone passage may be associated with the frontal boundary.