METEOROLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY

Lesson 7 - The Wind and Pressure System over the Ocean

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the topic, the students must be able to:

1. Explain

 qualitatively, with the aid of sketches, the circulation cells which would exist on a rotating earth
 not inclined to its orbits of rotation around the sun, and with homogeneous surface
 the formation of anabatic and katabatic winds

2. Describe

 the characteristics and location of the doldrums, intertropical convergence zone, trade winds,
sub-tropical oceanic highs, westerlies, and polar easterlies
 monsoon regime

3. List

 the areas which experience a true monsoon regime

 the regions of occurrence of anabatic and katabatic winds

4. Apply

 previous concepts to a qualitative explanation of the causes of monsoon regimes

 previous concepts to a qualitative explanation of weather associated with the January and July
monsoons of the Indian Ocean, China Sea, north coast of Australia, and west coast of Africa
 the concept of horizontal temperature differences to a qualitative explanation of the formation
of land and sea breezes

5. Draw the mean surface pressure and wind distribution over the earth’s surface in January and July

6. Provide examples of local winds

Synoptic Wind System

Synoptic wind system is of larger scale in nature and is caused by synoptic pressure differences and
temperature of the wind where it spans smaller distances - a few hundred to a few thousand kilometers,
and possessing shorter lifetimes, a few to several days, this class contains the migrating cyclones and
anticyclones that control day-to-day weather changes, this scale is smaller when compared to planetary
scale of wind system
  Sometimes the planetary and synoptic scales are combined into a single classification termed
the large-scale, or macroscale. Large-scale wind systems are distinguished by the predominance
of horizontal motions over vertical motions and by the preeminent importance of the Coriolis
force in influencing wind characteristics. Examples of large-scale wind systems include the trade
winds and the westerlies.

Wind Forces

Pressure Gradient Force – is the movement of air from low pressure to high pressure, this is the force
exerted by an air relative to the pressure it embodies, and pressure is inversely proportional to
temperature thus, high temperature air is characterized as having low-pressure while low temperature
air is characterized as having high-pressure, and pressure here is the force exerted per unit area.

Coriolis Force – is the force exerted by the rotational motion of the

Earth (from West to East) in which, according to Ferrel’s law derived
from Coriolis Effect, it states that in northern hemispheres, wind
deflects towards the right and in southern hemisphere wind deflects
towards left. This means that in northern hemisphere, wind deflects
clockwise, while in southern hemisphere, wind deflects anti-
clockwise.

Geostrophic Wind Force - is the force exerted on a wind or

movement of air by a balance in both Coriolis and Pressure Gradient force, this is a wind formed from
the combination of the said forces which is parallel to the isobars (line of equal pressure).

Cyclonic Wind (Low Pressure Wind) – is the wind rotating at counter-clockwise (due to the combined
effects of Coriolis, pressure gradient force where there is an abnormal or excess force on either side that
tends to cause such wind) direction in Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in Southern Hemisphere.

Anticyclonic Wind (High Pressure Wind) - is the wind rotating at clockwise (due to the combined effects
of Coriolis, pressure gradient force where there is an abnormal or excess force on either side that tends
to cause such wind) direction in Northern Hemisphere and counter-clockwise in Southern Hemisphere.
 Global Circulations

Circulation Cells on Rotating Earth Circulation Cells

of Non-rotating and no water Earth

1. Hadley Cell
2. Ferrel Cell
3. Polar Cell

- Sea Breeze - blows from sea to land during the day or in summer. That’s when air over the
land is warmer than air over the water. The warm air rises. Cool air from over the water
flows in to take its place.
- Land Breeze - blows from land to sea during the night or in winter. That’s when air over the
water is warmer than air over the land. The warm air rises. Cool air from the land flows out
to take its place.
Mountain and Valley Breezes

Mountain slope is faster to warm-up and cool down than valley.

Valley Breeze – is the movement of air from the valley to the mountain during the day where air
over the slope of the mountain is warmer compared to the valley and rises and brings cool air up from
below.

Mountain Breeze - At night, the mountain slope cools more than the air over the valley. The air
flows downhill creating a mountain breeze.

Katabatic and Anabatic Winds

Anabatic and Katabatic Winds move the same way as mountain and valley breezes however, they are
stronger compared to them.

 Anabatic wind – (Greek term meaning to move up).

Anabatic winds blow up slopes of mountains or sides of plateaus in calm and sunny
conditions. They are found most commonly on steep-sided islands and bare mountain slopes in
the cloudless and arid regions of the tropics and subtropics. These winds are considered part of
convection currents because they form in daytime when the air above the heated land become
warm it rises and takes the easier path by flowing upward along a warm mountain side.

 Katabatic wind – (Greek term for to move down)

During the night particularly with a clear sky at high places like the top of cliffs and
mountain with a steep slope cool and consequently the air over them also cools and the
pressure becomes high so that due to gravitation this denser air flows down the slope forming a
katabatic wind. (This may have no relation with atmospheric pressure distribution). Whe n it
reaches sea level it blows horizontally with violent force of about 7 on the Beaufort Wind scale
(28 to 33 kts). This wind is most common off the coast of Greenland and in the Adriatic.
Doldrums, Inter-tropical Convergence Zone, Trade Winds, Sub-tropical oceanic highs, Westerlies, and
Polar Easterlies

Doldrums and Inter-tropical Convergence Zone

 The "doldrums" is a popular nautical term that refers to

the belt around the Earth near the equator where
sailing ships sometimes get stuck on windless waters.
 Known to sailors around the world as the doldrums, the
Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, (ITCZ, pronounced
and sometimes referred to as the “itch”), is a belt
around the Earth extending approximately five degrees
north and south of the equator. Here, the prevailing
trade winds of the northern hemisphere blow to the
southwest and collide with the southern hemisphere’s
driving northeast trade winds.
 Due to intense solar heating near the equator, the
warm, moist air is forced up into the atmosphere like a
hot air balloon. As the air rises, it cools, causing persistent bands of showers and storms around
the Earth’s midsection. The rising air mass finally subsides in what is known as the horse
latitudes, where the air moves downward toward Earth’s surface.
 Because the air circulates in an upward direction, there is often little surface wind in the ITCZ.
That is why sailors well know that the area can calm sailing ships for weeks and that’s why they
call it the doldrums.

Trade Winds

Trade winds are part of the Hadley cell circulation. At the

equator, a low-pressure area of calm, light variable winds,
known Intertropical Convergence Zone as we discussed
above. The air lifts from here and at around 30° North and
South, the air begins to descend toward the surface in
subtropical high-pressure belts known as subtropical ridges.
At the surface, the air flows from these subtropical high-
pressure belts toward the Equator but is deflected toward
the west in both hemispheres by the Coriolis Effect. Thus,
these winds blow predominantly from the northeast in the
Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the
Southern Hemisphere. Because winds are named for the
direction from which the wind is blowing, these winds are called the northeast trade winds in the
Northern Hemisphere and the southeast trade winds in the Southern Hemisphere. The trade winds
meet at the doldrums.

Subtropical Oceanic Highs

Once rising air parcels reach the tropopause, its greater

stability acts like a lid to suppress further ascent
(remember that the air above the tropopause in the
stratosphere is quite stable). So, upon reaching the lid,
rising air parcels fan out laterally, heading poleward in
both hemispheres and thus becoming part of the upper
branches of the Hadley Cells. Parcels head toward the
subtropics, where they will eventually sink in concert with
the belt of subtropical high-pressure systems that girdles
the globe at latitudes in the general vicinity of 30-degrees
North and South. These "subtropical" highs form near the
fringes of the tropics and are semi-permanent, meaning
that they typically appear on long-term-average pressure
patterns. To see what I mean, check out the long-term
average of sea-level pressures from June through August
(top image below) and December through February
(bottom image below) to spot the subtropical highs.

During summer in the Northern Hemisphere (top image above), two dominant subtropical highs emerge
-- the Bermuda high over the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific high. The Bermuda high shares its name
with the island of Bermuda because, over the long haul during summer, the average position of this high
lies near Bermuda. These two subtropical highs owe their relative strength, in part, to the oceans.
During the Northern Hemisphere's summer, the oceans are generally cooler compared to the warmer
continents. In turn, cooler, denser maritime air that overlies the oceans serves to boost surface
pressures, paving the way for relatively robust subtropical highs during summer.

During the Northern Hemisphere's winter (bottom image above), when the oceans are warmer
compared to the continents, the dominant subtropical highs aren't as strong, with the Bermuda high
shifting eastward and gradually taking an average position near the Azores Islands. As a result, the
Atlantic subtropical high assumes the seasonal name, Azores high.

So, why do these subtropical high-pressure systems exist in the first place? Over the long haul, the clear
signal from the recurrent upward motion in the ascending branch of each Hadley Cell is a stream of air
flowing poleward at high altitudes. As the air flows poleward, it cools. And eventually, in the general
neighborhood of 30-degrees latitude, the poleward flow in the upper branch of each Hadley Cell
becomes convergent. In turn, this mass convergence of cold air moving in the upper branch of the
Hadley Cell adds weight to local air columns near 30-degrees latitude, increasing surface pressure there,
and helps to establish the persistent belt of subtropical highs.
Westerlies

The directions of the Westerlies are opposite to trade winds

and that is why they are also called antitrade winds.
Westerlies blow in the middle latitudes between 30- and
60-degrees latitude and originate from the high-pressure
area in the horse latitudes towards the poles. Under the
effect of the Coriolis force, they become the south
westerlies in the northern hemisphere and Northern
westerlies in the southern hemisphere.

 Note that Winds are named from the direction

(cardinal points) where they came from.
 Please note that in the southern hemisphere, there is more of ocean and less of land in
comparison to the northern hemisphere. Due to this reason, the westerlies blow with much
greater force in southern hemisphere in comparison to northern hemisphere.

Polar Easterlies

Polar easterlies blow from the polar high-pressure

belts towards the temperate low-pressure belts.
These are extremely cold winds that come from the
Tundra and Icecap regions of the poles. The Polar
Easterlies are more regular in the southern
hemisphere in comparison to the northern
hemisphere. These polar cold winds converge with
the warm easterlies near 60° latitudes and form the
Polar front or Mid Latitude front. This mid-latitude
front becomes the center of the origin of the
Temperate Cyclones.

Polar Highs (associated to Polar Vortex)

- are areas of high atmospheric pressure around the north and south poles; the north polar
high being the stronger one because land gains and loses heat more effectively than sea.
- The cold temperatures in the polar regions cause air to descend to create the high pressure
(a process called subsidence), just as the warm temperatures around the equator cause air
to rise to create the low-pressure intertropical convergence zone.
- Rising air also occurs along bands of low pressure situated just below the polar highs around
the 60th parallel of latitude. These extratropical convergence zones are occupied by the
polar fronts where air masses of polar origin meet and clash with those of tropical or
 subtropical origin. This convergence of rising air completes the vertical cycle around the
polar cell in each latitudinal hemisphere.

Polar Vortex

The polar vortex is a large area of low pressure and cold

air surrounding both of the Earth’s poles. It ALWAYS exists
near the poles but weakens in summer and strengthens in
winter. The term "vortex" refers to the counterclockwise
flow of air that helps keep the colder air near the Poles.
Many times during winter in the northern hemisphere, the
polar vortex will expand, sending cold air southward with
the jet stream (see graphic above). This occurs regularly
during wintertime and is often associated with large
outbreaks of Arctic air in the United States. The one that
occurred January 2014 is similar to many other cold
outbreaks that have occurred in the past, including several
notable colder outbreaks in 1977, 1982, 1985 and 1989.

Jet Streams

 Jet streams are relatively narrow bands of strong wind in the upper levels of the atmosphere.
The winds blow from west to east in jet streams, but the flow often shifts to the north and
south. Jet streams follow the boundaries between hot and cold air.
 Since these hot and cold air boundaries are most pronounced in winter, jet streams are the
strongest for both the northern and southern hemisphere winters.
 In addition, with the three-cell circulations mentioned previously, the regions around 30° N/S
and 50°-60° N/S are areas where
temperature changes are the greatest.
 As the difference in temperature
increases between the two locations the
strength of the wind increases. Therefore,
the regions around 30° N/S and 50°-60°
N/S are also regions where the wind, in
the upper atmosphere, is the strongest.
 The 50°-60° N/S region is where the polar
jet located with the subtropical jet
located around 30°N. Jet streams vary in
height of four to eight miles and can reach
speeds of more than 275 mph (239 kts /
442 km/h).
 The actual appearance of jet streams
result from the complex interaction between many variables - such as the location of high and
low pressure systems, warm and cold air, and seasonal changes. They meander around the
globe, dipping and rising in altitude/latitude, splitting at times, and forming eddies, and even
disappearing altogether to appear somewhere else.
 Jet streams also "follow the sun" in that as the sun's elevation increases each day in the spring,
the average latitude of the jet stream shifts poleward. (By Summer in the Northern Hemisphere,
it is typically found near the U.S. Canadian border.) As Autumn approaches and the sun's
elevation decreases, the jet stream's average latitude moves toward the equator.

 Jet streams are often indicated by a line on a weather map indicating the location of the
strongest wind. However, jet streams are wider and not as distinct as a single line but are
actually regions where the wind speed increases toward a central core of greatest strength.
 One way of visualizing this is to consider a river. The river's current is generally the strongest in
the center with decreasing strength as one approaches the river's bank. Therefore, it is said that
jet streams are "rivers of air".
Monsoon Regime

Monsoons are like land and sea breezes, but on a larger scale.
Monsoons blow for approximately six months from the northeast
and six months from the southwest,.They occur because of
seasonal changes in the temperature of land and water. In the
winter, they blow from land to water. In the summer, they blow
from water to land. In regions that experience monsoons, the
seawater offshore is extremely warm. The hot air absorbs a lot of
the moisture and carries it over the land. Summer monsoons bring
heavy rains on land. Monsoons occur in several places around the
globe. The most important monsoon in the world is in southern
Asia (Figure below). These monsoons are important because they
carry water to the many people who live there.

Temperature of Monsoon Climate

Though mean annual temperature is fairly high but summer and winter seasons are sharply
differentiated due to northward (summer solstice) and southward movement of the sun (winter
solstice).

Summer and Winter Solstices

The seasons on Earth change because the planet is slightly tilted on its axis as it travels around the Sun.
This means different points on Earth receive more or less sunlight at different times of year. If Earth

were not tilted, the Sun would always appear to be directly above the Equator, the amount of light a
given location receives would be fixed, and there would be no seasons. There also would be no need to
mark equinoxes or solstices.

The two solstices happen in June (20 or 21) and December (21 or 22). These are the days when the Sun’s
path in the sky is the farthest north or south from the Equator. A hemisphere’s winter solstice is the
shortest day of the year and its summer solstice the year’s longest. In the Northern Hemisphere the June
solstice marks the start of summer: this is when the North Pole is tilted closest to the Sun, and the Sun’s
rays are directly overhead at the Tropic of Cancer. The December solstice marks the start of winter: at
this point the South Pole is tilted closest to the Sun, and the Sun’s rays are directly overhead at the
Tropic of Capricorn. (In the Southern Hemisphere the seasons are reversed.)

The equinoxes happen in March (about March 21) and September (about September 23). These are the
days when the Sun is exactly above the Equator, which makes day and night of equal length.
Monsoon of Indian Ocean

 The summer monsoon is associated with heavy rainfall. It usually happens between April and
September. As winter ends, warm, moist air from the southwest Indian Ocean blows toward
countries like India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. The summer monsoon brings a humid
climate and torrential rainfall to these areas.
 The Indian Oceans winter monsoon, which lasts from October to April, is less well-known than
its rainy summer equivalent. The dry winter monsoon blows from the northeast. These winds
start in the air above Mongolia and northwestern China.

High Pressure – divergence of wind

Low pressure – convergence of wind

Westerlies are winds which move from West to East.

Easterlies are winds that move from East to West.

Local Winds

Bora refers to katabatic wind that blows down the slopes of the mountains on the north and east coast
of the Adriatic Sea; often dangerous as it often blows without any warning and in violent gust.

Gregale is a strong NE wind in the central and western Mediterranean Sea in Malta and Sicily.

Levanter refers to east wind in the Strait of Gibraltar. It brings much moisture, clouds, haze and fog,
sometimes rain.

Scirocco is southerly wind in the Mediterranean coming from North Africa; it causes fog.

Harmattan is an east wind on the west coast of Africa between Cape Verde and the Gulf of Guinea in
November to March. It brings clouds of dust and sand from the Sahara.

Mistral is a strong N or NW wind in the Gulf of Lyons of gale force and produces rough seas.

Norther is a north wind of gale force along the coast of Chile. Gulf of Mexico and western Carribean
during winter.

Pampero is a squall occurring at the passage of a cold front in Rio de la Plata, it blows from the north
and back suddenly to a S or SW direction; Frequent in June to September.

Shamal is a NW wind in the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and along the Makran coast.

Southerly Buster refers to a south wind on the SE coast of Australia that occurs mainly in summer; as a
warning a long cumulus roll appears on the horizon and the wind drops to a calm then suddenly blows
with gale force accompanied by rapid fall in temperature.

Sumatra refers to a squally wind from the SW during the month of May to October, in the Strait of
Malacca and west coast of Malaya.

Williwaw is an unpredictable and violent wind rising suddenly in Aleutian waters especially close to the
mountainous coast of the islands in that region.

Papagayo is a north to north easterly wind which periodically blows through the gap in the mountain
ranges of central America. It is named after the Gulf of Papagayo on the Pacific coast near Costa Rica.
Papagayo can be stronger than the trade winds which normally blows in this region.

Brubu refers to a squall in the East Indies.

Borasco is a thunderstorm or violent squall especially in the Mediterranean.

Abroholas is a squally frequent wind that occurs from May through August between Cabo de Sao Tome
and Cabo Frio on the Coast of Brazil.

Café Doctor is dry south-easterly wind that blows on the South African coast during Summer.

Tehuantepecer is a violent north to northwesterly wind funneled through the Gulf of Tehuantepec on
the Pacific coast of Mexico and can be felt up to 100 miles out to the Pacific ocean. It occurs during
winter in the northern part of America.
Mean Surface Pressure and Wind Distribution (January and July)

 You can look at the figure on the subtropical oceanic highs for a more detailed and perceptible
representation of pressure and wind distribution.
Lesson 8: Structure of Depression

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the topic, the students must be able to:

1. Define air mass, source region, warm front ,cold front, and depression

2. Explain

 the formation of an air mass

 the characteristics required of a source region

3. Describe

 the source region characteristics of Arctic, polar, tropical, and equatorial air-mass types
 with the aid of a diagram, the weather experienced during the passage of an idealized warm
front
 with the aid of a diagram, the weather experienced during the passage of an idealized cold front
 the usual movement of a polar front depression
 the stages in the life cycle of a polar front depression
 family of depressions
 the process leading to the occlusion of a polar front depression
 the weather associated with the passage of a trough

4. Draw

 a diagram of a polar front depression, for both northern and southern hemispheres, showing
isobars, warm and cold front wind circulation and warm sector
 a cross section through a polar front depression, on the poleward and equatorial side of center,
showing fronts, cloud, and precipitation areas

5. Identify

 the depression on a surface synoptic or prognostic chart

 a trough of low pressure on a surface synoptic or prognostic chart

The speed of the wind is directly proportional to the pressure gradient meaning that as the change in
pressure increases (i.e. pressure gradient increases) the speed of the wind also increases at that
location.

Forces that Govern Wind:

 Pressure Gradient Force

 Coriolis Force
 Frictional Force caused by the surface
 - The surface of the earth is rough and it not only slows the wind down but it also
causes the diverging winds from highs and converging winds near lows.

- What happens to the converging winds near a low? A property called mass
continuity states that mass cannot be created or destroyed in a given area. So
air cannot "pile up" at a given spot.
- It has to go somewhere so it is forced to rise. As it rises it cools. When air cools,
condensation begins to exceed evaporation so the invisible vapor condenses,
forming clouds and then precipitation. That is why there is often inclement
weather near low-pressure areas.
- What about the diverging air near a high? As the air spreads away from the high,
air from above must sink to replace it. Sinking air warms. As air warms,
evaporation begins to exceed condensation which means that clouds will tend
to evaporate. That is why fair weather is often associated with high pressure.

Air Mass and Source Region

 An air mass is a large body of air with generally uniform temperature and humidity.
 The area over which an air mass originates is what provides its characteristics which is called the
source region. The longer the air mass stays over its source region, the more likely it will acquire
the properties of the surface below. As such, air masses are associated with high pressure
systems.

Air Mass Boundaries

 Where air masses converge, they form boundaries called "fronts".

  Fronts are identified by change of temperature based upon their
motion. With a cold front, a colder air mass is replacing a warmer air
mass. A warm front is the opposite affect in that warm air replaces
cold air. There is also a stationary front, which, as the name implies,
means the boundary between two air masses does not move.
 The motion of air masses also affects where a good portion of
precipitation occurs. The air of cold air masses is more dense than
warmer air masses. Therefore, as these cold air masses move, the dense air undercuts the
warmer air masses forcing the warm air up and over the colder air causing it to rise into the
atmosphere.
 With warm fronts, the gentle slope favors a broad area of rising air so
there is typically widespread layered or stratiform cloudiness and
precipitation along and to the north of the front. The slope of cold
fronts, being much more steep forces air upward more abruptly. This
can lead to a fairly narrow band of showers and thunderstorms along
or just ahead of the front.
 Stationary front – When neither air mass is moving.
 Occluded front – In a depression in middle latitudes when part of the cold front overtakes and
pushes the adjacent warm air upward so that in the area involved the warm air is replaced with
the cold air.

The Source Region

There are two broad overarching divisions of air masses based upon the moisture content:

- Continental air masses, designated by the lowercase letter 'c', originate over continents are
therefore dry air masses.
- Maritime air masses, designated by the letter 'm', originate over the oceans and are therefore
moist air masses.

Each of the two divisions are then divided based upon the temperature content of the surface over
which they originate.

- Arctic air masses, designated by the letter 'A', are very cold as they originate over the Arctic or
Antarctic regions.
- Polar air masses, designated by the letter 'P', are not as cold as Arctic air masses as they
originate over the higher latitudes of both land and sea.
- Tropical air masses, designated by the letter 'T', are warm/hot as they originate over the lower
latitudes of both land and sea.
- Equatorial air masses, develop at latitudes from 25 degrees north to 10 degrees south.
Temperatures are high, and because there isn't much land at those latitudes, equatorial air
 masses are all maritime. They are laden with moisture because water readily evaporates into
the hot air at the equator. Warm air has a tendency to rise, and the trade winds that prevail
near the equator push it into the cooler upper atmosphere, where the moisture condenses into
ice crystals and turns into rain as it falls to the ground. Consequently, thunderstorms are
frequent in regions dominated by equatorial air masses.

Thermo-dynamical Classification

Thermo dynamical (according to temperature)

a) Warm (W) or Cold (K)

b) Unstable (U) or Stable (S)

Weather Conditions during Passage of a Front

 The depression discussed in this topic is called polar front depression because it begins at a
Polar Front in temperate zones or latitudes. It is also called Frontal Depression. For a depression
to form there should be a large temperature difference between the cold air mass that is on the
pole ward side of the front and warm air mass that is on the equatorial side of the front, and
that the warm air should be moving eastward faster than the movement of the cold air moving
westward.
 Since the air in an anticyclone is subsiding the sky has very little clouds if any.
 The air in a depression is warm and rising so that the sky is cloudy.
 The typical features of pressure distribution of an Anticyclone and Depression in the Northern
Hemisphere is shown in the diagram below. The wind arrows show that the wind is stronger
towards the center of low pressure but weaker towards the center of high pressure.
 Polar Front is the boundary line between polar and tropical air masses. This line is not vertical
but inclined toward the pole. In the Atlantic this separates either Continental-Polar Air of North
America from Maritime-Tropical Air of the North Atlantic, or Maritime-Polar Air of the North
Atlantic from Maritime-Tropical Air of North Atlantic.
 A Ridge of High Pressure, also called Wedge, is an extension of an anticyclone formed by
elongated isobars extending outwards from the center of high pressure.
 A Trough, or Trough of Low Pressure, or V-shaped depression is identified by the arrangement of
the isobars that are elongated isobars from a low pressure extending into a high pressure area,
usually points toward the equator. The weather associated with the passage of a trough is
similar to that of a depression.
 A Col is a region enclosed between two diametrically opposite high pressure areas and two low
pressure areas. In a Col the weather changes rapidly. The wind is light and variable and it is an
area where fog or thunderstorms may occur.
 The wind arrows show that the wind is stronger towards the center of low pressure but weaker
towards the center of high pressure.

Synoptic Chart and Prognostic Chart

How are prognostic charts different from synoptic weather maps? Prognostic charts are computer
generated forecast showing the expected pressure pattern at a specific future time while Synoptic
weather maps describe the state of the atmosphere over a large area at a given moment. In weather
reports, the term "fog" is used for visibility that means “visibility less than 1,000 meters” and the
term "poor" is used to describe the visibility of up to 2 n. miles.

 Typical cloud formations associated with tropical revolving storm are cirrus, cirrostratus,
altostratus, stratocumulus and cumulonimbus and scuds.
 In the middle latitudes they are known as Extra-Tropical Cyclones, or wave cyclone, or wave
depression because it deforms the fronts into a wave. The ones that form in the tropics are
called Tropical Revolving Storms or Tropical Cyclones and are the most dangerous.