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Map of pressure systems across North America. A pressure system is a peak or lull in the sea level pressure distribution, a feature of synoptic-scale weather.The surface pressure at sea level varies minimally, with the lowest value measured 87 kilopascals (26 inHg) and the highest recorded 108.57 kilopascals (32.06 inHg).
A permanent low-pressure system over Iceland (the Icelandic Low) and a permanent high-pressure system over the Azores (the Azores High) control the direction and strength of westerly winds into Europe. The relative strengths and positions of these systems vary from year to year and this variation is known as the NAO.
[14] [15] High-pressure systems are alternatively referred to as anticyclones. On weather maps, high-pressure centers are associated with the letter H in English, [16] or A in Spanish, [17] because alta is the Spanish word for high, within the isobar with the highest pressure value. On constant pressure upper level charts, it is located within ...
Those cells exist in both the northern and southern hemispheres. The vast bulk of the atmospheric motion occurs in the Hadley cell. The high pressure systems acting on the Earth's surface are balanced by the low pressure systems elsewhere. As a result, there is a balance of forces acting on the Earth's surface.
A North American High moves eastward across the continent, [1] often in the company of one or more low-pressure cells or cyclones.The cold, dense air does not extend usually above 3 km (1.9 mi) and is lower than the Canadian Rockies mountain range. [2]
The Azores High also known as North Atlantic (Subtropical) High/Anticyclone or the Bermuda-Azores High, is a large subtropical semi-permanent centre of high atmospheric pressure typically found south of the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean, at the Horse latitudes. It forms one pole of the North Atlantic oscillation, the other being the Icelandic Low.
One of the most prominent examples of such a separation occurs in central North America, especially Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, where the moist air from the Gulf of Mexico meets dry air from the desert south-western states. The dry line is an important factor in severe weather frequency in the Great Plains of North America.
This high-pressure circulation pattern strongly influences tropical cyclone paths. The presence of the Eurasian and North American continents prevent a continuous belt of low pressure from developing in the Northern Hemisphere sub-polar latitudes, which would mirror the circumpolar belt of low pressure and frequent storms in the Southern Ocean. [2]