Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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 westerlies (blue) and trade winds (yellow and brown) Global surface wind vector flow lines colored by wind speed from June 1, 2011 to October 31, 2011. In meteorology, prevailing wind in a region of the Earth's surface is a surface wind that blows predominantly from a particular direction. The dominant winds are the trends in direction of ...
The term originally derives from the early fourteenth century sense of trade (in late Middle English) still often meaning "path" or "track". [2] The Portuguese recognized the importance of the trade winds (then the volta do mar, meaning in Portuguese "turn of the sea" but also "return from the sea") in navigation in both the north and south Atlantic Ocean as early as the 15th century. [3]
Besides the westerlies, and trade winds, the large surfaces of land also effect the wind, causing cyclones, hurricanes and other deviations to the normal direction of trade wind File usage The following 10 pages use this file:
Unlike the Westerlies, these prevailing winds blow from the east to the west, and are often weak and irregular. [45] Because of the low sun angle, cold air builds up and subsides at the pole creating surface high-pressure areas, forcing an equatorward outflow of air; [ 46 ] that outflow is deflected westward by the Coriolis effect.
The Hadley and polar cells are truly closed loops, the Ferrel cell is not, and the telling point is in the Westerlies, which are more formally known as "the Prevailing Westerlies." The easterly Trade Winds and the polar easterlies have nothing over which to prevail, as their parent circulation cells are strong enough and face few obstacles ...
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
The winds that have the greatest effect on the climate of the region are the prevailing westerlies and the tropical easterlies. The prevailing westerlies, caused by the Coriolis Effect, explain why most major events that occur in North America come from the west and proceed east, which is where the majority of the Eastern Temperate Forest is ...