RAINFALL AND SEA-BREEZE CIRCULATION OVER SOUTH-WESTERN FRANCE

South-western France (Aquitaine region) has an oceanic temperate clima te but some climatic peculiarities (irregular patterns in isohyets) ar e observed along a narrow coastal belt. The spatial distribution of wi nter and summer precipitation shows a rainy strip located around 20 to 40 km inland. Three features allow an explanation of this distributio n: synoptic flow, sea-breeze and heterogeneous land roughness (presenc e of the Foret des Landes). To take into account the impact of these f eatures, numerical simulations are examined using a three-dimensional mesoscale model. The occurrence of the forest increases the possibilit y of precipitation during irregular patterns in isohyets. (C) 1997 by the Royal Meteorological Society.