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why do clouds go in opposite directions northern and southern hemispheres?

12 Answers

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  • hutson
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    The Coriolis effect, sometimes called the Coriolis Force.

  • 1 decade ago

    Coriolis effect. A man with this name once wondered why if you shot a cannon north,(in the northern hemisphere) The cannon ball would fall to the west of the target. He discovered that where the cannon was sitting was traveling faster around the world than the target because it was closer to the equator than the target. And the target was closer to the north pole. The equator spins around the earth at approximately 1,000 miles an hour and the poles spin at zero miles per hour. This same effect causes wind patterns to swirl around when a high pressure area tries to go to a low pressure area. It starts in a straight line, but the target area moves at a different speed so the air movement has to shift to adjust to the movement. This causes a swirling wind and cloud movement. This causes the same effect in the southern hemisphere but with the opposite movements.

  • Arasan
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago

    Usually clouds are carried away by the winds prevailing at the cloud's height.The reason that they are moving in opposite directions is due to the coriolis effect which act in opposite directions in both hemispheres.That is why the trade winds,westerlies and polar easterlies which are the global winds blow in opposite directions in the two hemispheres.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    The reason why clouds move in the opposite directions of the earth depends on these factors water temp/water direction, jet stream, the rotation and tilt of the earth, and even the seasons can be a cause too.

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  • oracle
    Lv 5
    1 decade ago

    my clouds go wherever I tell them to ...

    yeah, I have a remote control that does that!

  • Mark T
    Lv 6
    1 decade ago

    Just like the oceans and toilets also. Has to do with the rotation of the earth.

  • 1 decade ago

    clouds have nothing else better to do...they move pretty slowly so they have plenty of time to be pushed by winds..even the lightest winds can tug at them..their main job is to circumnavigate the globe anyways.....from one region to the next...

  • 1 decade ago

    probably because the earth moves to euther the left or the right, and it just seems that way to the human eye.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    they don't ... they go which ever way the wind is blowing

  • bungee
    Lv 6
    1 decade ago

    way the wind blows

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