The Westerlies or the Prevailing Westerlies are the prevailing winds in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude, blowing from the high pressure area in the horse latitudes towards the poles. The prevailing winds are the trends in speed and direction of Wind over a particular point on the Earth 's surface The middle latitudes are between 33 degrees 33' 33" North and 66 degrees 33' 33" and 64 degrees 33' 33" South and 33 degrees 33' 33" South Latitude, or Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter phi ( Φ) gives the location of a place on Earth (or other planetary body north or south of the This article refers to the geographical area For other uses see Horse latitudes (disambiguation Horsey latitudes or Subtropical High A geographical pole, or geographic pole, is either of two fixed points on the surface of a spinning body or Planet, at 90 degrees from the Equator, based The winds are predominantly from the southwest in the Northern Hemisphere and from the northwest in the Southern Hemisphere. Wind is the flow of Air or other Gases that compose an Atmosphere (including but not limited to the Earth's) Northern Hemisphere is the half of a Planet that is North of the Equator —the word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' Southern Hemisphere is the half of a Planet that is South of the Equator —the word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' Together with the trade winds, the westerlies enabled a round-trip trade route for early European sailing ships. The trade winds (also called trades) are the prevailing pattern of easterly winds found in the Tropics near the Earth's Equator. Vessels returning to Europe from South and Central America, the West Indies, or the Southern Atlantic Seaboard of South America generally sailed North, turning Eastward at the Wesern Virginias to cross the Atlantic. The East Coast of the United States, also known as the "Eastern Seaboard" or "Atlantic Seaboard" refers to the easternmost coastal states in the central and northern
The westerlies can be particularly strong , especially in the southern hemisphere, where there is less land in the middle latitudes to cause friction and slow the winds down. The strongest westerly winds in the middle latitudes can come in the Roaring Forties, between 40 and 50 degrees latitude. The Roaring Forties is a name given especially by sailors to the latitudes between 40°S and 50°S so called because of the boisterous and prevailing westerly winds
The Westerlies play an important role in carrying the warm, equatorial waters and winds to the western coasts of continents, especially in the southern hemisphere because of its vast oceanic expanse.
In the Southern hemisphere, because of the stormy and cloudy conditions, it's usual to refer to the Westerlies as the Roaring Forties, Furious Fifties and Shrieking Sixties according to the varying degrees of latitude.
See also
The polar easterlies are the dry cold Prevailing winds that blow from the high-pressure areas of the Polar highs at the north and South poles A west wind is a Wind that originates in the West and blows East.Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic