1. -What explains the surface wind direction off the coast of California (35 deg
ID: 154815 • Letter: 1
Question
1. -What explains the surface wind direction off the coast of California (35 degrees N, 125 degrees W)?
2.-What is the surface wind direction in the northern Pacific Ocean (45 degrees N, 155 degrees W)?
-What explains this wind direction?
3. -What is the surface wind direction in the tropical pacific near Hawaii (20 degrees N, 160 degrees W)?
-What is the upper atmosphere wind direction in the tropical pacific over Hawaii?
-What explains the difference in wind direction between the surface and the upper atmosphere in the tropical Pacific ear Hawaii?
-Suggest a reason why the surface wind speed and upper atmosphere wind speed near Hawaii are so different.
Explanation / Answer
1.The surface wind direction off the coast of California (35 degrees N, 125 degrees W) is from the North.The North direction is due to the wind which is diverted clockwise from high pressure region.
2. The surface wind direction in the northern Pacific Ocean (45 degrees N, 155 degrees W) is from the West -SW(south west).
The direction is due to the wind which converged Anticlockwise into the low pressure region.
3.The surface wind direction in the tropical pacific near Hawaii (20 degrees N, 160 degrees W) is from the East.
The upper atmosphere wind direction in the tropical pacific over Hawaii is from the West.
Easterly surface winds(in the tropical pacific near Hawaii) are trade winds where as upper atmosphere winds(westerly winds) are anti trade winds .This explains the difference in wind direction between the surface and the upper atmosphere in the tropical Pacific near Hawaii.
In the lower atmosphere the surface wind speed is influenced by frictional forces where as in the upper atmosphere wind speed is relatively less influenced by frictional forces.
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