Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
In meteorology, a low-pressure area, low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclement weather (such as cloudy, windy, with possible rain or storms), [ 1 ] while high-pressure areas are associated with lighter winds and clear skies. [ 2 ]
A trough is an elongated region of relatively low atmospheric pressure without a closed isobaric contour that would define it as a low pressure area. Since low pressure implies a low height on a pressure surface, troughs and ridges refer to features in an identical sense as those on a topographic map. Troughs may be at the surface, or aloft, at ...
A low-pressure area is a region where the atmospheric pressure at sea level is below that of surrounding locations. Low-pressure systems form under areas of wind divergence that occur in the upper levels of the troposphere. [1] The formation process of a low-pressure area is known as cyclogenesis. [2]
An example of a convergence zone is the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), a low pressure area which girdles the Earth at the Equator. [3] Another example is the South Pacific convergence zone that extends from the western Pacific Ocean toward French Polynesia. The ITCZ shifts with the tilt of the earth, coinciding with the changing of seasons.
The rising air creates a low pressure zone near the equator. As the air moves poleward, it cools, becomes denser, and descends at about the 30th parallel, creating a high-pressure area. The descended air then travels toward the equator along the surface, replacing the air that rose from the equatorial zone, closing the loop of the Hadley cell. [3]
The French meteorologist Léon Teisserenc de Bort was the first in 1881 to apply this term to maxima and minima of pressure on daily charts. The main centers of action in the Northern Hemisphere are the Icelandic Low, the Aleutian Low, the Azores/Bermuda High, the Pacific High, the Siberian High (in winter), and the Asiatic Low (in summer). [7]
Extratropical cyclones which form in the sub-polar latitudes in the North Pacific typically slow down and reach maximum intensity in the area of the Aleutian Low. Tropical cyclones that form in the tropical and equatorial regions of the Pacific can veer northward and get caught in the Aleutian Low. This is usually seen in the later summer months.
A cold-core low, also known as an upper level low or cold-core cyclone, is a cyclone aloft which has an associated cold pool of air residing at high altitude within the Earth's troposphere, without a frontal structure. It is a low pressure system that strengthens with height in accordance with the thermal wind relationship.