Why does air move from high pressure areas to low pressure areas?

As the atmosphere heats, the warmer air rises which creates areas of lower pressure. The colder, denser air forming adjacent high pressure systems moves to fill in the space left by the rising warmer air.

Why does air move from high to low pressure in a straight line?

Although wind blows from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure, it doesn’t blow in a straight line. That’s because the earth is rotating. In the northern hemisphere, the spin of the earth causes winds to curve to the right (to the left in the southern hemisphere). This is called the coriolis effect.

How does air move in areas of high pressure?

A high pressure system has higher pressure at its center than the areas around it. Winds blow away from high pressure. Swirling in the opposite direction from a low pressure system, the winds of a high pressure system rotate clockwise north of the equator and counterclockwise south of the equator.

How does air circulate around high and low pressure?

The air circulates around low pressures in a cyclonic direction (hence the word cyclone). Correspondingly, air circulates around high pressures in an anticyclonic direction (hence the word anticyclone). You guessed it, anticyclonic means clockwise in the northern hemisphere and anticlockwise in the southern hemisphere.

What is high pressure area and low pressure area?

High-pressure areas usually are areas of fair, settled weather. Low-pressure areas are places where the atmosphere is relatively thin. Winds blow inward toward these areas. This causes air to rise, producing clouds and condensation.

How does air move in the atmosphere?

Air in the atmosphere moves around the world in a pattern called global atmospheric circulation. When the air cools, it drops back to the ground, flows back towards the Equator, and warm again. The, now, warmed air rises again, and the pattern repeats. This pattern, known as convection, happens on a global scale.

What causes air to move out?

Air in the atmosphere moves around the world in a pattern called global atmospheric circulation. This pattern, called atmospheric circulation, is caused because the Sun heats the Earth more at the equator than at the poles. It’s also affected by the spin of the Earth. In the tropics, near the equator, warm air rises.

What causes the rotation of high and low pressure systems?

In a low pressure weather system, air flows inward, but this deflection twists the air flow towards the right, creating an anticlockwise swirl of winds. In a high pressure system, air flows outward, and the deflection results in a clockwise rotation.