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Trade Winds
From SKYbrary Wiki
| Article Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category: | Weather | 
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| Content source: | SKYbrary | 
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| Content control: | EUROCONTROL | 
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| WX | |
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| Tag(s) | Climatic Phenomena |
Definition
Trade Winds is defined as steady and persistent winds which blow on the Equatorial side of the subtropical high pressure systems in both Hemispheres.
Description
In the northern hemisphere the Trade Winds blow from the north east while in the southern hemisphere they blow from the south east. The direction of the winds is influenced by land masses so the Trade Winds tend to be more uniform over the oceans.
The weather associated with Trade Winds is generally fine for flying operations; scattered small cumulus and stratocumulus with a base of around three thousand feet . However, as the trade winds progress across the ocean, they gather moisture and the cloud becomes more developed, and so the western side of the tropical oceans is more cloudy than the eastern side. Where the Trade Winds pass over land, for example the Hawaiian Islands, showers may form as a result of orographic lift and instability caused by surface heating over the land.
Where the Trade Winds from each hemisphere approach each other, the rising air creates instability which, depending on the strength of the winds, results in a line of cumulonimbus clouds. This line of weather is known as the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ).