Florida Winds

[bob47]

Can somebody with knowledge about wind explain how this happens?

All day today, radar showed weather cells passing across Florida from west to east. Maybe west / southwest to east / northeast. But the National Weather Service report said, and it was obvious when I was riding my bicycle, that on the ground the wind was raging out of the north / northeast. How can the ground level wind direction be so different from the winds aloft?

[John_W]

Can somebody with knowledge about wind explain how this happens?

All day today, radar showed weather cells passing across Florida from west to east. Maybe west / southwest to east / northeast. But the National Weather Service report said, and it was obvious when I was riding my bicycle, that on the ground the wind was raging out of the north / northeast. How can the ground level wind direction be so different from the winds aloft?

A front is a merely collection of like weather moving together in one direction. The front as a whole was moving in a direction from west to east. It will always move from west to east because they are guided by the jet streams, which themselves are guided by the earth's rotation. This front was a low pressure area, winds in low pressure blow counter-clockwise. Just like a hurricane when they say the worse side is the right front side as it moves ashore.

We are now in high pressure, current pressure is 30.20 at 9:30pm, normal is 29.92, a high is always clear, cool and windy, which is what we have. We should also switch to clockwise wind since the front has passed and we are now north of the front.

[DeanFL]

...maybe the bike rider just ahead of you broke wind.

[sounding]

Differences in wind direction in the vertical, like you described, are common around the world. In fact, this happens nearly everyday, to varying degrees, depending on the current weather pattern. As an observer, you will never see it, unless there are clouds at different levels in the atmosphere. The technical term for this phenomena is call vertical wind shear. During stormy & thunderstorm conditions, strong vertical wind shear is necessary to produce tornadoes -- it provides atmospheric twist -- thus twisters. During conditions of partly cloudy, fair weather, it can be absolutely fascinating just to watch how clouds at different levels will move in different directions ... sometimes in 3 different directions depending on the vertical structure of the atmosphere at that time. The most dramatic visual example of vertical wind shear is to watch a satellite loop of a major hurricane ...where the low level winds (and cumulus/storm clouds) all flow into the center of the storm (in an anti-clockwise rotation) as high level winds (and cirrus clouds) all flow away from the hurricane (in a clockwise rotation).

[dewilson58]

All the wind (& weather) information you will ever need:


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[bob47]

Thanks for your explanation.

[Topspinmo]

I find wind down here rather pleasant compared to Midwest. Occasionally it will blow up, but most time it’s mild.

[DeanFL]

I find wind down here rather pleasant compared to Midwest. Occasionally it will blow up, but most time it’s mild.


...wait until June 1<>Nov 30. Hurricane season.

[Stu from NYC]

...wait until June 1<>Nov 30. Hurricane season.

Cant wait