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Regional weather
All Aboard the Storm Track Express!
There are areas in the northern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans where storms frequently pass through. These regions are called storm tracks. You can see why the storms seem to follow the same track in this picture of the average sea level pressure during January. The big blue and purple bullseyes in the northern oceans are low pressure centers. Remember that cold fronts are associated with low pressure. The rising air above the cold front combined with the moisture from the oceans leads to lots of storms. The storms can begin on land, too. This map shows the average position of these intense low-pressure systems, but on a day-to-day basis lows march across North America, leading to cold fronts and interesting weather. As lows move off the coast of North America, they can bring intense storms called "nor'easters". The storms are called this because the winds hitting the coast of the U.S. come from the northeast.
Next page -> mountains and weather
Links and resources
All Aboard the Storm Track Express!
There are areas in the northern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans where storms frequently pass through. These regions are called storm tracks. You can see why the storms seem to follow the same track in this picture of the average sea level pressure during January. The big blue and purple bullseyes in the northern oceans are low pressure centers. Remember that cold fronts are associated with low pressure. The rising air above the cold front combined with the moisture from the oceans leads to lots of storms. The storms can begin on land, too. This map shows the average position of these intense low-pressure systems, but on a day-to-day basis lows march across North America, leading to cold fronts and interesting weather. As lows move off the coast of North America, they can bring intense storms called "nor'easters". The storms are called this because the winds hitting the coast of the U.S. come from the northeast.
Next page -> mountains and weather
Links and resources
