Winds
by Jason Forzano
What is Wind?
Wind is the movement of air from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure. Wind is also a force in air, and this is known by the blowing of wind. Wind is often described as wind gust because we mostly feel wind when it gust up. The highest wind speed ever recorded was 318 MPH in a tornado.
What Causes Wind?
Most wind is caused by air pressure in the troposphere. When there is a difference in air pressure, wind moves from a high pressured area to a low pressured area. Near Earth's surface, the planets friction causes the wind to slow down. This is proven by the laws of gravity.
Local Winds
What are Local Winds?
Local winds are winds that are in one particular area. This happens mostly in local terrain like a city. If the local terrain is varied like: flat land, hills, mountains, etc. So when you look at the NWS [National Weather Service] and it says the wind speed for your state, don't ever trust that because they are talking about global winds, not local winds.
How Are Local Winds Created?
Local winds are created by changes in air pressure in a local area. This also happens by winds coming in from the sea and leaving the land. This is called sea breeze and land breeze. Mountains can also cause local winds.
How do Sea Breezes Blow?
Sea breezes blow from water to land. Sea breezes often happen in the night time. This happens because water is cooler than land and land heats up faster. Sea breezes don't blow in one direction. This is because of the rotation of the Earth.
How Do Land Breezes Blow?
A land breeze is a wind that blows from land to water. This often happens in the day time and not the night time. Like a sea breeze, a land breeze doesn't blow in just one direction. This is because of the tilt of the earth.
Global Winds
What Are Global Winds?
Global winds are winds that blow over a large area like the Earth. The Earth has six major wind belts. They are: Trade Winds, Horse Latitude, Doldrums, Prevailing Winds Polar Easterlies, and Polar Westerlies.
How Are Global Winds Created?
Global winds are created by something called the Coriolis Effect. The Earth has a lot of pressure. Some areas have low pressure and high pressure. If there was no Coriolis Effect, the wind would just go North to South.
What Are Doldrums?
Doldrums are located on the equator. it is a low pressured area that makes the wind very weak. Doldrums made sailors hate the equator because it was very hard to sail on. This is why it's called Doldrums.
What Are Trade Winds?
Trade winds are located on 25* and 30* N and 25* and 30* S. They are called trade winds because sailors would use it as a trading route across water. The winds were strong. This made it easy to trade goods.
What Are Prevailing Westerlies?
Prevailing westerlies are located at 30* and 60* latitude. Prevailing westerlies winds are very strong. Sailors would sometimes use this to sail some where quickly. It would sometimes pull the ships back.
What Are Jet Streams?
Jet streams are 10 KM above Earth. These winds are as fast as a jet. Planes love to fly here. this also creates our weather patterns. These are very narrow and pilots have to be careful when flying in it.