What are damages caused by an anticyclone?

Answer 1

Generally, anticyclones are not damaging. They bring calm, clear weather. However, an anticyclone that stays in one are for two long can lead to drought and potentially heat waves. Drought leads to crop failure, water shortages, and interruptions in shipping as rivers become to narrow to navigate.

Heat waves can overtax electrical grids as large numbers of people turn on their air conditioners. People may become overheated or dehydrated. Children and the elderly are particuarly vulnerable. Excessive heat is the number 1 cause of weather-related death in the United States. Thermal expansion during intense heat waves can cause roads and bridges to buckle.

Anticyclones can also indirectly cause damage by influencing other weather systems. In other cases, a very large anticyclone, called a blocking high, can create what is called a blocking pattern. The system becomes so large that it disrupts the normal eastward-blowing wind of the middle latitudes, causing the system and other systems behind it to stall. If a storm system gets stuck behind a blocking high, it may sit in one place, dropping rain on the same area for days, leading to the risk of flooding.

An unusual instance happened in late October of 2012. Normally, a hurricane moving north up the U.S. East Coast will either continue moving north or turn to the east and head out to sea. When Hurricane Sandy moved up the the East Coast, however, a blocking high centered over Greenland prevented it from doing either. Instead, it forced Sandy to make an unprecedented westward turn. The high also deflected the jet stream in such a manner that it wrapped around the upper portions of Sandy, contributing to the storm's intensity. This, combined with another storm system, lead to Sandy devastating large portions of New York and New Jersey.