All about WIND
By: Zachary A.
Learning about Wind is a Breeze!
What is wind?
The perceptible natural movement of the air, especially in the form of a current of air blowing from a particular direction.
Bill Nye The Science Guy on Wind (Full Clip)
Wind Terminology
- Front
This is the boundary between two large air masses. It is the meeting point between cold dense air and warm light air. - Prevailing winds
This is simply a term used for winds that are most frequent in its’ direction and speed over a specific geographic region. - Jet Stream
They are very strong winds that can be found in the upper troposphere.
Global Winds
Global winds are really large air masses that are created mainly as a result of the earth’s rotation, the shape of the earth and the sun’s heating power.
- Polar Easterlies
- Prevailing Westerlies
- Tropical Easterlies / NE Trade Winds
- The Doldrums
Local Winds
Local winds are those that are created as a result of scenery such as mountains, vegetation, water bodies and so on. They usually change very often and the weather forecast people talk about this kind on the TV everyday. They can move from mild to extreme winds in just hours. Good examples of local winds are sea breezes and land breezes, and mountain and valley breezes. Local winds cover very short distances.
Coriolis Effect
This effect makes wind systems in the southern side of the equator (southern hermisphere) spin clockwise and wind systems in the northern side (north hermisphere) spin counter-clockwise.