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The prevailing winds, the westerlies or the Ferrel cell, cause our weather to move predominately from west to east. These winds are a result of the heating of the atmosphere near the equator. The heated air rises and moves north and south. At about 30 degrees north and south, it has cooled enough to descend. This descending air cause most of the Earth's deserts. The air now close to the surface moves in two directions. Some of it returns to the equator to replace the rising air there and some of it continues north in the Northern Hemisphere and south in the Southern Hemisphere. The Coriolis effect bends the air headed back to the equator to the west (the trade winds or Hadley cell) and the air headed north and south to the east, resulting in the westerlies.
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David D, Moore: Physics Teacher
Governor Dummer Academy 1 Elm Street Byfield, MA 01922
Phone: (978) 499-3306 Fax: (978) 462-1319
E-Mail: dmoore@gda.org ddmoore@mediaone.net
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-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Green [mailto:JMGreen@SISNA.COM]
Sent: Saturday, May 13, 2000 1:50 PM
To: PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu
Subject: The Weather
Why does the weather tend to move from west to east?
Jim Green
mailto:JMGreen@sisna.com
http://users.sisna.com/jmgreen