All Topics  
Westerlies

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Westerlies
 
 
  Topics Westerlies Topic Home

The Westerlies or the Prevailing Westerlies are the prevailing winds
Prevailing winds

The prevailing winds are the trends in direction of wind with the highest frequency over a particular point on the earth's surface. The dominant winds are the trends in direction of wind with the highest speed over a particular point on the earth's surface....
 in the middle latitudes
Middle latitudes

The middle latitudes are between 23?26'22" North and 66?33'39" North, and between 23?26'22" South and 66?33'39" South latitude, or, the earth's temperate zones between the tropics and the Arctic and Antarctic....
 between 30 and 60 degrees latitude
Latitude

Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter phi gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps ....
, blowing from the high pressure area in the horse latitudes
Horse latitudes

Horse latitudes or Subtropical High are subtropic latitudes between 30 and 35 degree s both north and south. This region, under a ridge of high pressure called the subtropical high, is an area which receives little precipitation and has variable winds mixed with calm....
 towards the pole
Geographical pole

A geographical pole , is either of two points on the surface of a spinning planet or other spinning body, at 90 degrees from its equator, at one of the two points where the Axis of rotation around which the body spins meets the surface of the body....
s. These prevailing winds blow from the west
West

West is most commonly a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction or geography.West is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points....
 to the east
East

East is a Direction in geography. It is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points, opposite of west and at right angles to north and south....
. The wind
WIND

The Global Geospace Science WIND satellite is a NASA science spacecraft launched at 04:31:00 EST on November 1, 1994 from launch pad 17B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Merritt_Island%2C_Florida, Florida aboard a McDonnell Douglas Delta II 7925-10 rocket....
s are predominantly from the southwest in the Northern Hemisphere
Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of the equator?the word sphere literally means 'half sphere'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator....
 and from the northwest in the Southern Hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere

The Southern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is south of the equator?the word sphere literally means 'half ball'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere south of the celestial equator....
. Together with the trade wind
Trade wind

The trade winds are the Prevailing winds of easterlies surface winds found in the tropics near the Earth's equator. The trade winds blow predominantly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere....
s, the westerlies enabled a round-trip trade route for early European sailing ships.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Westerlies'
Start a new discussion about 'Westerlies'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The Westerlies or the Prevailing Westerlies are the prevailing winds
Prevailing winds

The prevailing winds are the trends in direction of wind with the highest frequency over a particular point on the earth's surface. The dominant winds are the trends in direction of wind with the highest speed over a particular point on the earth's surface....
 in the middle latitudes
Middle latitudes

The middle latitudes are between 23?26'22" North and 66?33'39" North, and between 23?26'22" South and 66?33'39" South latitude, or, the earth's temperate zones between the tropics and the Arctic and Antarctic....
 between 30 and 60 degrees latitude
Latitude

Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter phi gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps ....
, blowing from the high pressure area in the horse latitudes
Horse latitudes

Horse latitudes or Subtropical High are subtropic latitudes between 30 and 35 degree s both north and south. This region, under a ridge of high pressure called the subtropical high, is an area which receives little precipitation and has variable winds mixed with calm....
 towards the pole
Geographical pole

A geographical pole , is either of two points on the surface of a spinning planet or other spinning body, at 90 degrees from its equator, at one of the two points where the Axis of rotation around which the body spins meets the surface of the body....
s. These prevailing winds blow from the west
West

West is most commonly a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction or geography.West is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points....
 to the east
East

East is a Direction in geography. It is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points, opposite of west and at right angles to north and south....
. The wind
WIND

The Global Geospace Science WIND satellite is a NASA science spacecraft launched at 04:31:00 EST on November 1, 1994 from launch pad 17B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Merritt_Island%2C_Florida, Florida aboard a McDonnell Douglas Delta II 7925-10 rocket....
s are predominantly from the southwest in the Northern Hemisphere
Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of the equator?the word sphere literally means 'half sphere'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator....
 and from the northwest in the Southern Hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere

The Southern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is south of the equator?the word sphere literally means 'half ball'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere south of the celestial equator....
. Together with the trade wind
Trade wind

The trade winds are the Prevailing winds of easterlies surface winds found in the tropics near the Earth's equator. The trade winds blow predominantly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere....
s, the westerlies enabled a round-trip trade route for early European sailing ships. Vessels returning to Europe from South and Central America, the West Indies, or the Southern Atlantic Seaboard of South America generally sailed North, turning Eastward at the Western Virginias to cross the Atlantic.

The westerlies can be particularly strong, especially in the southern hemisphere, where there is less land in the middle latitudes to cause friction and slow the winds down. The strongest westerly winds in the middle latitudes can come in the Roaring Forties
Roaring Forties

The Roaring Forties is a name given, especially by sailors, to the latitudes between 40?S and 50?S, so called because of the boisterous and prevailing westerly winds....
, between 40 and 50 degrees latitude.

The Westerlies play an important role in carrying the warm, equatorial waters and winds to the western coasts of continents, especially in the southern hemisphere because of its vast oceanic expanse.

In the Southern hemisphere, because of the stormy and cloudy conditions, it's usual to refer to the Westerlies as the Roaring Forties, Furious Fifties and Shrieking Sixties according to the varying degrees of latitude.

See also

  • Polar Easterlies
    Polar easterlies

    The polar easterlies are the dry, cold prevailing winds that blow from the high-pressure areas of the polar highs at the north pole and south poles towards the low-pressure areas of the polar fronts between 60 and 90 degrees north and south....
  • West wind
    West wind

    A west wind is a wind that originates in the west and blows east. In Greek mythology, Zephyrus was the personification of west wind and bringer of light spring and early summer breezes; in the Eros and Psyche of Cupid and Psyche, he was the attendant of Cupid, who brought Psyche to his master's palace....
  • Ferrel cell