What happens when trade winds converge?

What happens when trade winds converge?

The point at which the trade winds converge forces the air up into the atmosphere, forming the ITCZ. The location of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone is usually readily seen as a line of cumulus clouds in the tropics. Therefore, the ITCZ is responsible for the wet and dry seasons in the tropics.

What is the meeting zone of trade winds?

The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ, pronounced “itch”), known by sailors as the doldrums or the calms because of its monotonous windless weather, is the area where the northeast and the southeast trade winds converge. It encircles Earth near the thermal equator though its specific position varies seasonally.

What is the belt of convergence of trade wind known as?

intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), also called equatorial convergence zone, belt of converging trade winds and rising air that encircles the Earth near the Equator.

What do you call this area where north and south easterly trade winds converge and most tropical cyclone occurs?

Intertropical Convergence Zone. Near the equator, from about 5° north and 5° south, the northeast trade winds and southeast trade winds converge in a low pressure zone known as the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ).

Where do the northeast and southeast trade winds meet?

The intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) is an east-west-oriented low-pressure region near the equator where the surface northeast and southeast trade winds meet.

Where do trade winds get their name?

The trade winds were named by the crews of sailing ships that depended on the winds during westward ocean crossings.

Where do the trade winds of the two hemispheres converge?

The trade winds of the two hemispheres converge in a narrow east-west zone located near the equator known as the Inter tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The ITCZ is an important component of the planetary-scale atmospheric circulation that is particularly well defined over the tropical ocean.

How do these commerce-friendly winds form?

How do these commerce-friendly winds form? Between about 30 degrees north and 30 degrees south of the equator, in a region called the horse latitudes, the Earth’s rotation causes air to slant toward the equator in a southwesterly direction in the northern hemisphere and in a northwesterly direction in the southern hemisphere.

Why do trade winds cross the equator in winter?

Due to the shift of ITCZ, the trade winds of the southern hemisphere cross the equator between 40ºE and 60ºE longitudes and start blowing from southwest to northeast due to the Coriolis force. It becomes southwest monsoon. In winter, the ITCZ moves southward, and so the reversal of winds from northeast to south and southwest, takes place.

What type of clouds are associated with trade winds?

All tropical oceans except the northern Indian Ocean have extensive areas of trade winds. Clouds which form above regions within trade wind regimes are typically composed of cumulus which extend no more than 4 kilometres (13,000 ft) in height, and are capped from being taller by the trade wind inversion.