How are winds affected by areas of high pressure?

Answer 1

In zones where air ascends, the air is less dense than its surroundings and this creates a center of low pressure. Winds blow from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure, and so the surface winds would tend to blow toward a low pressure center.

In zones where air descends back to the surface, the air is more dense than its surroundings and this creates a center of high atmospheric pressure. Since winds blow from areas ofhigh pressureto areas oflow pressure, winds spiral outward away from the high pressure. The Coriolis Effect deflects air toward the right in the northern hemisphere and creates a general clockwise rotation around the high pressure center. In the Southern Hemisphere the effect is just the opposite, and winds circulate in a counterclockwise rotation about the high pressure center. Such winds circulating around a high pressure center are calledanticyclonic windsand around a low pressure area they are calledcyclonic winds.