Winds & The Coriolis Effect - Part 3

The effect of Earth’s rotation on the wind is called the Coriolis effect. The Coriolis effect causes any objects that move on the surface of a rotating object such as Earth to veer away from their original path. In the Northern Hemisphere, moving objects, including the wind, veer to the right. In the Southern Hemisphere, moving objects veer to the left. The animation below illustrates the Coriolis effect.

The resulting patterns create not only the Westerlies and Easterlies, but also the polar estuaries, horse latitudes and equatorial doldrums. They also set the stage for the jet streams that play a very important role in the creation of weather.