Its average speed is about 5 to 6 metres per second (11 to 13 miles per hour) but can increase to speeds of 13 metres per second (30 miles per hour) or more. The trade winds were named by the crews of sailing ships that depended on the winds during westward ocean crossings.
Why are trade winds weak?
The air-sea interaction that occur during an El Niño event feed off of each other. As the pressure falls in the east and rises in the west, the surface pressure gradient is reduced and the trade winds weaken.
Are trade winds strong?
The prevailing winds at the horse latitudes vary, but are usually light. Even strong winds are often short in duration. Trade winds are the powerful prevailing winds that blow from the east across the tropics . Trade winds are generally very predictable.
Are trade winds calm?
These prevailing winds, known as the trade winds, meet at the Intertropical Convergence Zone (also called the doldrums) between 5 degrees North and 5 degrees South latitude, where the winds are calm .
Are trade winds weak?
The easterly trade winds are driven by a surface pressure pattern of higher pressure in the eastern Pacific and lower pressure in the west. When this pressure gradient weakens , so do the trade winds. The weakened trade winds allow warmer water from the western Pacific to surge eastward, so the sea level flattens out.
Are trade winds warm or cold?
The trade winds blow toward the west partly because of how Earth rotates on its axis. The trade winds begin as warm , moist air from the equator rises in the atmosphere and cooler air closer to the poles sinks.
What causes the trade winds?
The Coriolis Effect
What are the 4 types of winds?
Ans. The different types of winds on earth are planetary winds
Where are the trade winds strongest?
Trade winds originate more from the direction of the poles (northeast in the Northern Hemisphere, southeast in the Southern Hemisphere) during the cold season, and are stronger in the winter than the summer .
How many trade winds are there?
at sea. Two belts of trade winds encircle the earth, blowing from the tropical high-pressure belts to the low-pressure zone at the equator.
Are trade winds seasonal?
The Trade WINDs are a large-scale component of Earth circulation, occupying most of the tropics straddling the equator between approximately latitude 30 degrees N and latitude 30 degrees S, with a seasonal shift of the entire trade wind belt system about 5 degrees of latitude northward during summer (July) and ...
How do trade winds affect climate?
Trade winds have a big influence on the climate to the north and to the south of the equator. The main effects are: Continuous removal of humidity from the areas around the tropics = desertification . Continuous supply of humidity to the equator region = rain forest.
Does El Nino strengthen trade winds?
This warm pool expands to cover the tropics during El Niño, but during La Niña, the easterly trade winds strengthen and cold upwelling along the equator and the West coast of South America intensifies. Sea-surface temperatures along the equator can fall as much as 7 degrees F below normal.
What are the main features of trade winds?
- The Trade winds blow in the tropics between the sub tropical high pressure belt to the equatorial low pressure belt between 30°N and 30°S.
- Trade winds are warm winds and hence they pick up moisture and bring heavy rainfall on the eastern sides of the tropical islands.
How does the wind move during a fair weather?
Fair weather generally accompanies a high pressure center and winds flow clockwise around a high . This means that winds on the back (western) side of the high are generally from a southerly direction and typically mean warmer temperatures.
What are anti trade winds?
The westerlies, anti-trades, or prevailing westerlies, are prevailing winds from the west toward the east in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude . They originate from the high-pressure areas in the horse latitudes and trend towards the poles and steer extratropical cyclones in this general manner.
