How To Make Wind and Influence Climate

[jbgibson]

I got it, I just let it... pass :-).

The doldrums would be wherever the Intertropical Convergence Zone is -- close to the "heat equator" that was mentioned as moseying north then south then north again. Don't think of it as totally no wind, think of it as faint wind from every direction to here, then the air rises. Or to put cause before effect, it's where the most heat of any latitude (on that day) makes air generally rise, and the rising air mass is replaced by inflow from both north and south. If I'm a sailor and any breeze is zero or toward me, I can't make progress anywhere.

Not sure of the reason for less indicated wind arrows over land.

Go a little further in the Megalaos sequence, and you'll see me place some general highs and lows. Those will generate directions like spiraling in and spiraling out. And yeah, there's no abrupt flip-flop from summer pattern to winter and back. Remember it's ALL generalizations and averages.... look at one good hurricane on the move, and you'll see the general pattern get overridden.

Mountains funnel wind, as through a gap, but otherwise don't divert it a lot sideways. Air masses would rather go up and over. That's a generalization - local winds and weather of course are affected by mountains a bit.

[Porklet]

I got it, I just let it... pass :-).

The doldrums would be wherever the Intertropical Convergence Zone is -- close to the "heat equator" that was mentioned as moseying north then south then north again. Don't think of it as totally no wind, think of it as faint wind from every direction to here, then the air rises. Or to put cause before effect, it's where the most heat of any latitude (on that day) makes air generally rise, and the rising air mass is replaced by inflow from both north and south. If I'm a sailor and any breeze is zero or toward me, I can't make progress anywhere.

Not sure of the reason for less indicated wind arrows over land.

Go a little further in the Megalaos sequence, and you'll see me place some general highs and lows. Those will generate directions like spiraling in and spiraling out. And yeah, there's no abrupt flip-flop from summer pattern to winter and back. Remember it's ALL generalizations and averages.... look at one good hurricane on the move, and you'll see the general pattern get overridden.

Mountains funnel wind, as through a gap, but otherwise don't divert it a lot sideways. Air masses would rather go up and over. That's a generalization - local winds and weather of course are affected by mountains a bit.

That's a good one!

Doldrums...check. I'll look into your work. I have glanced at it, but I didn't want to get too far ahead of myself. Any notes on placing H/L pressure that's not in your descriptions? I'll make changes to the wind currents based on the new information about mountains after I have looked at your work. Thanks again.

[Porklet]

Go a little further in the Megalaos sequence, and you'll see me place some general highs and lows. Those will generate directions like spiraling in and spiraling out. And yeah, there's no abrupt flip-flop from summer pattern to winter and back. Remember it's ALL generalizations and averages.... look at one good hurricane on the move, and you'll see the general pattern get overridden.

Mountains funnel wind, as through a gap, but otherwise don't divert it a lot sideways. Air masses would rather go up and over. That's a generalization - local winds and weather of course are affected by mountains a bit.

I have studied your progression with Megalaos, and I have included proposed H/L's for my world. My world map is much smaller. I didn't know if that would affect the number of H/L systems. I just followed what I thought was a pattern. I can lessen the number or combine them if you think that would be more plausible. The wind markers with the systems are to remind me which way the wind blows.

I do have two, or more, large High/Low areas next to each other. I didn't know if that would ever happen. Combine them? Make them smaller?

I have included both a Summer and Winter map. I have not started on the wind, because I wanted your feedback on my systems placement, please, sir.

Couple of quick questions:
1. With Calms, I thought I had it, but, do they move with the seasons? Are the always along the 23rd parallel?
2. On the Winter Map, is there another band of High Pressure at the 67th parallel?

You've been a great help to this point. Any help you can give would be appreciated.

[jbgibson]

Yeah, nearby highs or lows would probably coalesce. You do get troughs instead of point (single area, actually) sometimes. Picture only the largest seas and landmasses as 'anchors' for highs or lows.

I think in winter the 'polar high' just extends its circulation further toward the equator. The polar outflow is comparatively dry, which is why Antarctica is technically a desert. Plus, the colder the water the less evaporates and the colder the air, the less it picks up.

Yes, the doldrums do migrate north and south some seasonally.

[Porklet]

Yeah, nearby highs or lows would probably coalesce. You do get troughs instead of point (single area, actually) sometimes. Picture only the largest seas and landmasses as 'anchors' for highs or lows.

I think in winter the 'polar high' just extends its circulation further toward the equator. The polar outflow is comparatively dry, which is why Antarctica is technically a desert. Plus, the colder the water the less evaporates and the colder the air, the less it picks up.

Yes, the doldrums do migrate north and south some seasonally.

Summer:

Lows: I combined the 2 major Lows into 1 centered on the large continent in the east. I purposefully left the southern side of the western continent along the Solar Equator without a Low. I didn't want it sucking in a lot of rain filled winds since I want to be dry. If you think it's not believable I can put an ancient range of mountains inland and in the wind's path.

Highs: I feel good about the north, but since the south is replete with bodies of water I combined all 3 of the major Highs into 2 and spread them out. Would a small High linger in between the two, would the 2 combine to form 1 larger High, or is it plausible as is?


Winter:

Lows: I am not certain the western continent can support a large Low. Should I make it a smaller sized Low? I want that continent to be dry as a bone (for the most part). From what I can tell that High to the south is going to throw rain at it. I could shift it east slightly and hide it behind the eastern mountain range.

Highs: I am not sure the western larger High (2nd from the left) could manifest over such a small section of land. Should I make it smaller? The small High in the center of the southern band: could that exist there, or would it combine with one of the two flanking larger Highs?


I don't know what happened to the last Winter map I uploaded. The bottom half was all greyed out. I have included the latest. If you could take a look at what I've done I would appreciate it. Summer is the upper one, obviously. Thanks JB.

[jbgibson]

I'll label the summer ones W to E, Northern NH1 Nh2 Nh3 NH4, the lows l1 l2lL3 and l4, and the Southern highs SH1 SH2 Sh3. In winter I'll labe them l1 L2 l3 L4 l5 and h1 H2 h3 H4 h5. Uppercase vs lower case is whether they're a strong or weak system.

Another circulation effect we haven't mentioned is a general shoving of warm water and warming air westward by the easterlies just to the north and south of that intertropical convergence zone - the string of near-equator lows. Google "Walker cell". It's something that develops across our huge Pacific, and probably would be even stronger above your three-quarters-of-a-world ocean. That generates a low around the east coast of a continent, and a high over trhe affected western coast. In your winter there wouldn't be much of this going on, since the ITCZ winds up totally south of your landmass.

Starting with your general High-Low placement here's what I think would happen.

Summer: l1 weakens or goes away and NH1 and SH1 shift together more. l2 and L3 drift north by five or ten degrees, with l2 swelling into L2. An ITCZ line bends north over land. l4 shifts eastward to become that coastal low of the Walker circulation, swelling into a bigger L4, but southeast of where you show it. A band or trough of low will extent most of the way around the backside of the globe, at maybe just 5 or 10 degrees N. That L4 low is the recipient of a huge amount of warm wet oceanic air all summer, and the coast where you show l4 is probably stormy and soggy. maybe June to November would be a hurricane season in your SE, from maybe 10 degrees N to 40 or so N. Nh2 and Nh3 probably coalesce into a single weak high, call it Nh23. I look at earthly maps and don't see discrete highs so closely spaced as your four northern ones.

A lot of your summer west-coast circulation is going to be N to S along the coast, with that big high pulling slightly cooler northern air down from your arctic. Cooler equals drier, so we can imagine that to be the equivalent of the airflow along the Andes. I assume it's the larger western continent you want dry? Hmmm - your 2/3 ring of mountains and that airflow probably could justify an interior desert. The very north and east edges, outside of the mountains, might be more damp. Air crossing that long inland sea couldn't help but pick up *some* moisture. Based on guesses before you draw in all the airflow, the inside of the tip of the hook of mountains in the southwestern continent/island could be pretty dry.

In winter your l1 L2 and l5 are probably about right. A winter 60-ish degree N string of lows appears to make more of a trough than beads on a string, if you will. I would guess the continental high would almost override l3 and L4 - say, erase both and shove an even bigger H4 up to about 30 degr N, due S of where you show L4. That's kind of what happens with earth's Asia in the winter.

For your winter map you may want to sketch in the slightly south-of-equator trough of lows. The clockwise outflow from northern hemisphere highs will be blowing kind of NE to SW when it gets to the equator Where there are pronounced lows - spots or blobs - it could torque to more NW to SE flow entering them. But you don't have southern landmases to bend the ITCZ much south though, so your winter is going to have close to the ideal ne to sw flow.that south-of-equator trough. Without significant southern landmasses, the airflow will stay more idealized. You'll have a conveyor belt of easterlies whooshing through those southern islands and all the way around the back of the globe, all winter.

What level of technology are your inhabitants? Once they develop long-range ocean travel, say clipper-ship sophistication, it'd be interesting to see how many traders risk a 3/4 circumnavigation to get from your west coast to east coast. That'd be an insane risk for galleys or galleons ;-).

[Porklet]

I'll label the summer ones W to E, Northern NH1 Nh2 Nh3 NH4, the lows l1 l2lL3 and l4, and the Southern highs SH1 SH2 Sh3. In winter I'll labe them l1 L2 l3 L4 l5 and h1 H2 h3 H4 h5. Uppercase vs lower case is whether they're a strong or weak system.

Another circulation effect we haven't mentioned is a general shoving of warm water and warming air westward by the easterlies just to the north and south of that intertropical convergence zone - the string of near-equator lows. Google "Walker cell". It's something that develops across our huge Pacific, and probably would be even stronger above your three-quarters-of-a-world ocean. That generates a low around the east coast of a continent, and a high over trhe affected western coast. In your winter there wouldn't be much of this going on, since the ITCZ winds up totally south of your landmass.

Starting with your general High-Low placement here's what I think would happen.

Summer: l1 weakens or goes away and NH1 and SH1 shift together more. l2 and L3 drift north by five or ten degrees, with l2 swelling into L2. An ITCZ line bends north over land. l4 shifts eastward to become that coastal low of the Walker circulation, swelling into a bigger L4, but southeast of where you show it. A band or trough of low will extent most of the way around the backside of the globe, at maybe just 5 or 10 degrees N. That L4 low is the recipient of a huge amount of warm wet oceanic air all summer, and the coast where you show l4 is probably stormy and soggy. maybe June to November would be a hurricane season in your SE, from maybe 10 degrees N to 40 or so N. Nh2 and Nh3 probably coalesce into a single weak high, call it Nh23. I look at earthly maps and don't see discrete highs so closely spaced as your four northern ones.

A lot of your summer west-coast circulation is going to be N to S along the coast, with that big high pulling slightly cooler northern air down from your arctic. Cooler equals drier, so we can imagine that to be the equivalent of the airflow along the Andes. I assume it's the larger western continent you want dry? Hmmm - your 2/3 ring of mountains and that airflow probably could justify an interior desert. The very north and east edges, outside of the mountains, might be more damp. Air crossing that long inland sea couldn't help but pick up *some* moisture. Based on guesses before you draw in all the airflow, the inside of the tip of the hook of mountains in the southwestern continent/island could be pretty dry.

In winter your l1 L2 and l5 are probably about right. A winter 60-ish degree N string of lows appears to make more of a trough than beads on a string, if you will. I would guess the continental high would almost override l3 and L4 - say, erase both and shove an even bigger H4 up to about 30 degr N, due S of where you show L4. That's kind of what happens with earth's Asia in the winter.

For your winter map you may want to sketch in the slightly south-of-equator trough of lows. The clockwise outflow from northern hemisphere highs will be blowing kind of NE to SW when it gets to the equator Where there are pronounced lows - spots or blobs - it could torque to more NW to SE flow entering them. But you don't have southern landmases to bend the ITCZ much south though, so your winter is going to have close to the ideal ne to sw flow.that south-of-equator trough. Without significant southern landmasses, the airflow will stay more idealized. You'll have a conveyor belt of easterlies whooshing through those southern islands and all the way around the back of the globe, all winter.

What level of technology are your inhabitants? Once they develop long-range ocean travel, say clipper-ship sophistication, it'd be interesting to see how many traders risk a 3/4 circumnavigation to get from your west coast to east coast. That'd be an insane risk for galleys or galleons ;-).

Thanks for taking the time to look over my maps.

It had occurred to me that I was placing a multitude of Highs and Lows based on what I observed on Megalaos. It being an entire planet, and my map covering 1/8 of a planet. It was a bit much. I am not entirely certain what is out there. I don't have a problem with there being no other land masses, unless that completely screws up the climatology. In answer to your question, they are in the late Iron Age. There technological levels vary between cultures, of course, but not by too much. That being said, they are pretty much "landlocked" to this continent and the surrounding islands so if there were other land masses it wouldn't affect the world too much.

The continent that I need to be dry is marked by L1 on the Summer Map. There are cities along the NE, NW, and S (between the ranges), but the interior needs to desert. With the all the Low pressures hanging out there that might prove difficult.

I have made the changes you advised below. I think I got them right.

Summer: I removed the ITCZ line from Summer since it was getting in the way of shifting the Lows around. I can imagine it for the time being. Does it follow the Lows? I removed the small Low in the eastern ocean, and shifted the two High's closer together. I am confused by the Highs shifting, but I trust your judgment. Would 2 Highs be so close together without a Low between them? I am okay with the east coast being bombarded by storms. It is sort of how I envisioned it except a little further south over the peninsula. I am guessing there will be a lot traders heading west over the winter months to do business in the southern seas.

Winter: Weather patterns are weird. I never would have guessed. I wasn't quite sure about the central smallish High hanging out in the southern ocean. You didn't mention it specifically, but I thought I'd bring it up anyway. Would it combine with the High to the west? I placed 3 Lows below the equator mostly to find out if that is the Latitude where they would fall and if there should be more of them. Also, since it's winter below the equator, and the Lows are over the water, should they be large Lows instead of smaller ones? Finally, I am assuming polar winds will be feeding into the north.

I'll draw in the troughs later, after I am sure of the pressure placement. Thanks again.

Summer



Winter



I have been studying your Megaloas wind maps, and I think I am getting the hang of it. But then again I could be deluding myself. Time will tell.

[Porklet]

Response forthcoming...