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This period was called the "dead horse" time, and it usually lasted a month or two. The seaman's ceremony was to celebrate having worked off the "dead horse" debt. As west-bound shipping from Europe usually reached the subtropics at about the time the "dead horse" was worked off, the latitude became associated with the ceremony. [2]
The westerlies, anti-trades, [2] or prevailing westerlies, are prevailing winds from the west toward the east in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude. They originate from the high-pressure areas in the horse latitudes (about 30 degrees) and trend towards the poles and steer extratropical cyclones in this general manner. [3]
The ITCZ is visible as a band of clouds encircling Earth near the Equator. The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ / ɪ tʃ / ITCH, or ICZ), [1] known by sailors as the doldrums [2] or the calms because of its monotonous windless weather, is the area where the northeast and the southeast trade winds converge.
Directly under the subtropical ridge are the doldrums, or horse latitudes, where winds are lighter. Many of the Earth's deserts lie near the average latitude of the subtropical ridge, where descent reduces the relative humidity of the air mass. [29] The strongest winds are in the mid-latitudes where cold polar air meets warm air from the tropics.
It is the approximate southern border of the horse latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, meaning that much of the land area touching the 30th parallel is arid or semi-arid. If there is a source of wind from a body of water the area would more likely be humid subtropical .
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This is the definition assumed when the word latitude is used without qualification. The definition must be accompanied with a specification of the ellipsoid. Geocentric latitude (also known as spherical latitude, after the 3D polar angle): the angle between the radius (from centre to the point on the surface) and the equatorial plane. (Figure ...
In the mid-latitudes, westerly winds are dominant, and their strength is largely determined by the polar cyclone. In areas where winds tend to be light, the sea breeze -land breeze cycle (powered by differential solar heating and night cooling of sea and land) is the most important cause of the prevailing wind.