What are Planetary Winds?
By BYJU'S Exam Prep
Updated on: November 9th, 2023
Planetary Winds blow from high-pressure belts to low-pressure belts in the same direction throughout the year. These are also called prevailing winds. Planetary winds blow in one direction over a certain area of the Earth. Planetary winds often move from east to west rather than north to south, and this is due to the Earth’s rotation creating the Coriolis effect.
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Classification of Planetary Winds
Planetary winds are the flow of a whole tear from one latitude to another due to differences in air pressure. There are three types of Planetary Winds – westerly winds, easterly winds, and polar easterlies.
The Westerlies
- In the Northern Hemisphere, high-pressure subtropical to pole winds is deflected to the right and therefore blow from the southwest.
- In the Southern Hemisphere, these winds deflect to the left and blow from the northwest, hence these winds are called westerly winds.
The Easterlies
- Westerly winds below the high-pressure subtropical areas towards the low-pressure equatorial regions. These are also called trade winds.
- Since easterlies blow mainly from the east, they are also called tropical easterlies.
Polar Easterlies
- These winds move from the polar regions to the sub-polar low-pressure areas.
- The direction of these winds is from North-East to South-West in the Northern Hemisphere and from South-East to North-West in the Southern Hemisphere.
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