Azores High

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The Azores High, also known as the Bermuda High in the United States, is a large subtropical semi-permanent centre of high atmospheric pressure found near the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean, at the Horse latitudes. It forms one pole of the North Atlantic oscillation, the other being the Icelandic Low. The system influences the weather and climatic patterns of vast areas of North Africa and Europe. The aridity of the Sahara Desert and Mediterranean Basin is due to the subsidence of air in the system.

In summer, the central pressure lies around 1024 mbar (hPa), and moves north towards the Iberian Peninsula, causing ridging across France, northern Germany and the southeastern United Kingdom. This brings hot and dry weather to these areas. In years that the Azores High is well developed, it extends westward toward Bermuda, and begins to influence weather in the eastern United States. While it affects conditions in the western Atlantic, the Azores High can also be called the Bermuda High. In winter, the High moves to the south of the Azores, and fluctuations in pressure result in more variable weather.

This high pressure block exhibits anticyclonic nature, circulating the air clockwise. Due to this direction of movement, African eastern waves are impelled along the southern periphery of the Azores High away from coastal West Africa towards North America and the Caribbean, sometimes triggering tropical cyclogenesis, especially during the hurricane season.

[edit] See also

• Hadley cell
• North American High
• Siberian High
• South Atlantic High

[edit] References