Understanding Wind Directions and Forces in Meteorology

Question:

1. What are the approximate directions of the surface wind at points X and Y on the map?

2. Can you label pressure centers A, B, and C as high (H) or low (L) pressure?

3. How can the balancing of forces in flow around pressure centers A and C be represented using colored arrows?

4. What is the direction of the gradient wind around pressure centers A and C?

5. Around which center (A or C) do you expect the winds to be more vigorous, and why?

Answer:

1. The arrows are drawn on the map in green to indicate the direction of the surface wind in each case. The approximate directions of the surface wind at points X and Y are as follows:

X: The wind direction at point X is in the northwesterly direction.

Y: The wind direction at point Y is in the southwesterly direction.

2. Pressure centers A, B, and C are labelled as high (H) or low (L) pressure.

3. The balancing of forces in the flow around pressure centers A and C can be represented using different colored arrows. Black represents FC, blue represents FP, and green represents fc. The magnitude of each force has been scaled proportionately.

4. The direction of the gradient wind around the A and C pressure centers is shown in red.

5. Winds are expected to be more vigorous around center A compared to center C because the forces that produce the gradient wind around center A are stronger than those around center C.