Understanding Global Winds

For a landfill operator to become insightful towards effective litter control, he needs to pay attention to and understand wind patterns around the landfill.  But, we'll start with explaining a few basics about global wind patterns.

The wind patterns around the earth has something to do with the coriolis effect, which has to do with the rotation of the earth. In most of North America, global winds are generally blowing from west to east, and most of our weather systems move west to east.  Think of which direction most of our summer storms come from.

In tropical climates, the trade winds are generally blowing towards the east.   Weather systems in the tropics tend to move from east to west.  Think of the direction that hurricanes and cyclones move around the globe.  



Regional wind patterns are influenced by high and low pressure zones.  The air moves in circular patterns around these pressure areas.   Winds will blow clockwise around high pressure zones, and counter clockwise around low pressure zones.   The direction of the wind where you are depends on where you sit within these high and low pressure areas. 

Understanding these basic wind patterns can be useful in planning the layout of a landfill development with consideration of prevailing winds, and by paying attention to local and regional weather systems, the operator can adjust daily operations and litter controls according to weather forecasts. 

Much of this information can be obtained from local weather stations.  In Canada, you can go online and log on to Environment Canada and get up to date weather information. 

In forthcoming posts, I will discuss regional wind patterns that are influenced by geography.