Westerly wind

“ Thus, in the Northern Hemisphere, from an easterly wind, which characterizes the northern margin of the storm, its center will bear south; from a northerly wind the center will bear east; from a westerly wind it will bear north, and from a southerly wind, west. But in the Southern Hemisphere, from an easterly wind, the center of the storm bears north; from a southerly wind the center bears east ”

“ This westerly wind is evidently produced by the air drawn actually from the equator towards the slower moving latitudes of the earth, by the rarefaction of the air to the southward when the sun is near the tropic of Capricorn. "The south-east monsoon predominates from April to October in the space last mentioned, and in some places reaches to the equator." In this case, the slow moving air near the southern tropic is brought, as in the ordinary case of the south-east Trade wind, to the quick-moving parts of the earth's surface. ”

“ And above, in the atmosphere, a warm wind, the south wind, goes continually from the equator to the pole. Through the rotation of the earth around its axis from west to east, the north wind becomes an easterly, that is, a northeast wind; and the south wind in the upper atmosphere becomes a westerly, or southwest wind. The former, coming from cold countries, carries no vapor with it; hence, during northeast wind we have clear sky, or sunshine, but without heat. If this wind occurs in winter, it brings us dry frost; in daytime the sun shines splendidly, at night the stars sparkle brilliantly ”

“ There is a peculiar aspect of the clouds before and during westerly winds which differs from that which they have previous to and during easterly winds, which is one only of the many curious facts connected with the differing natures of easterly and westerly currents of air throughout the world, which remain unchanged, whether they blow from sea to land, or the reverse. ”

“ The East Wind, an interloper in the dominions of Westerly weather, is an impassive-faced tyrant with a sharp poniard held behind his back for a treacherous stab. ”

“ It is a sort of steady, persistent, overwhelming, endlessly driving downpour, which makes your heart sick, and opens it to dismal forebodings. And the stormy mood of the Easterly weather looms black upon the sky with a peculiar and amazing blackness. The West Wind hangs heavy gray curtains of mist and spray before your gaze, but the Eastern interloper of the narrow seas, when he has mustered his courage and cruelty to the point of a gale, puts your eyes out, puts them out completely, makes you feel blind for life upon a lee-shore. It is the wind, also, that brings snow. ”

“ Because the storm will not pass to the westward, covering the sun and continuing, how strong soever the wind may be from the east; and because it is passing, and will continue to pass off to the eastward, leaving the sky clear. The easterly wind will stop as soon as the storm clouds have passed, and it will fall calm, or the wind will “come out” from the westward.
So, too, when the clouds are dark in the west in the morning, and the sun rises clear, but “goes into a cloud,” as it is expressed, you say that it will rain. And if the clouds are dense this generally proves true ”

“ Very frequently in summer, and sometimes in winter, the wind will set in from the eastward, and blow fresh toward a storm, before the condensation in the trade, which forms the eastern and approaching edge of the storm, has assumed the form of a distinct cloud. Not unfrequently, when it is calm next the surface, a narrow stratum of easterly wind, a half a mile or a mile above the earth, may be seen with a continuous fog, condensing, but not in considerable patches like the [Pg 114] usual scud, running with great rapidity toward the storm. ”

“ S.E. winds bring rain and dirty weather invariably, and are fortunately not of frequent occurrence. It is a curious fact that while in spring and summer the east wind brings with it an icy chill, while the west winds are warm and genial, the latter in the winter time bring whatever frosty weather comes to pass, which is immediately broken up into thaw by a change in the wind to east. ”

“ When the south-west wind brings his rain he brings it with the majestic onset announced by his breath. And when the light follows, it comes from his own doorway in the verge. His are the opened evenings after a day shut down with cloud. He fills the air with innumerable particles of moisture that scatter and bestow the sun. There are no other days like his, of so universal a harmony, so generous.
The north wind has his own landscape, too; but the east wind never. The aspect which he gives to the day is not all his own. ”

“ There is much more stress laid upon the direction of the wind, in this matter of the weather, than is warranted by the facts. Those deadly statistics, that are gall and wormwood to the weather-wise, prove this. Even a northeast wind may blow for three days without one drop of rain. When this happens, we hear of a “dry storm”—curious name for bright, clear days, perhaps with a cloudless sky, that, by virtue of the cool breeze, from the east, are well-nigh perfect. ”

“ Between the N. E. and S. E. the wind may blow from any point, before and during storms, and in a clear day in the morning, as a light variable breeze, or, after mid-day, toward approaching showers. I have known it blow all day during a storm from due east; to change back and forth between south-east and north-east, and to blow for hours from any intermediate point—as different portions of the storm were of different intensity, and exerted a more or less powerful inducing influence; and doubtless this often takes place at sea. ”

“ When this is so, it will be found that a storm has passed to the north of us, or a belt of rains is passing north, which may or may not have sufficient southern extension to reach us. When there have been heavy storms at the south in the spring, especially if of snow, the S. W. wind which the trade draws after it, and which comes from the snowy or chilled surface, is exceedingly “raw”—that is, damp and chilly, although not thermometrically very cold. ”

“ But do we not see, you inquire—at least those of us who live east of the Alleghanies—that when it rains, the wind is from the eastward; and that the clouds follow the wind from the east to the west? You do indeed, generally, in all considerable storms, observe that the wind blows from some easterly point, and that seeming clouds are blown by it to the [Pg 44] westward; but what you see, and call clouds, are not the clouds which furnish the rain. ”

“ Winds.--During the winter months, the wind is mostly from south to west, blowing with great violence for a week together; afterwards it veers round to the southward and south-east, which brings fine weather for a few days, then it veers to east, north-east, and north-west, blowing in heavy gales, and generally accompanied with violent torrents of rain: after which it shifts to south-west: indeed, I do not remember one instance of the wind coming to the north-east, round by west. The south-east wind blows during the summer with very little variation, and sometimes very strong. ”

“ Conflicts in the air.—"The atmosphere, alternately clear and cloudy, moves more definitely over from the north-west, so that it appears as if no combat was there waged, and the south-east gives place without a contest. The land breezes become less frequent, and the phenomena by day and night become, in a certain sense, more accordant with each other. Storms of wind and rain beneath a clouded sky alternate with severe gales and steady winds. In the last of November the west monsoon is permanent. ”

“ It is the best of winds, gives vigour to the eyes, increases the strength, and soothes the blood and the Pittam without aggravating the bodily Vayu. The West wind:—The West wind is pure, non-slimy, dry, rough to the perception, and keen. ”

“ In proportion as we recede from the equator, we find the winds become more variable, irregular, and partial. Storms and calms, in the northern regions, repeatedly alternate, without warning or progression; forcible winds blow at one place, when, at the distance of a few leagues, gentle breezes prevail; a storm from the south, on one hand, exhausts its impetuosity upon the gentle breeze, blowing from off the ice on the other, without prevailing in the least; ships, within the circle of the horizon, may be seen enduring every variety of wind and weather at the same moment ”

“ In winter furious tempests and snow, in summer similar storms, accompanied by rain, sleet, or mist, are experienced here five days out of the seven. If by accident a still, sunlit day does occur, it is called a "weather-breeder," for dirtier weather than before is sure to be lurking behind it. A howling south-wester on the English coast would be looked upon here as a moderate gale. While walking on the beach one day I was lifted clean off my feet by the wind, although the day was locally called rather a pleasant one. ”

“ These regular northerly currents, known as etesian or annual winds, cease on the termination of the hot season, when the sun stands above the southern tropic. They are, moreover, interrupted every night, when the cool sea air is attracted by the heated surface of the land. When the sun has set the wind gradually subsides ”

“ All the rough and unruly Winds are out of the way, for there is to be a match to-night between the North-east wind and a Southern tornado, to see which can blow the harder, and all their relations have gone to look on. ”

“ A very few time winds are like the monsoon, blowing at fixed intervals, first in one direction, then the other. Such a time wind blows near a balancing rock in a valley of red stones in the American Southwest. Every morning at ten o'clock, it blows a hundred years into the future; every afternoon at two, it blows a hundred years into the past. ”

“ When the wind sets in from points between south and southeast and the barometer falls steadily, [155] a storm is approaching from the west or northwest, and its center will pass near or north of the observer within twelve to twenty-four hours, with wind shifting to northwest by way of south and southwest. When the wind sets in from points between east and northeast and the barometer falls steadily, a storm is approaching from the south or southwest, and its center will pass near or to the south of the observer within twelve to twenty-four hours, with wind shifting to northwest by way of north. ”

“ Thus, although the N. W. wind is almost invariably a surface wind, I have, in a few instances, seen a N. W. set at a considerable elevation, converging toward a peculiarly stormy state of atmosphere far south of us, about the period of the spring equinox. And so in one or two instances I think I have seen light cirro-stratus clouds above the counter-trade, when it ran very low, setting from the N. E., although the usual and almost invariable location of the N. E. wind is below the counter-trade and the stratus clouds of the storm. ”

“ Even the experienced observers on islands and the alert officers on shipboard might not see the real implications in the weather messages they prepare. In the enormous reaches of the belt of trade winds, where the tremendous energy of the sun’s heat and the irresistible force of earth rotation dictate that the winds shall blow as steady breezes from the northeast, somebody might put in his report, for example, that there was a light wind coming from the southwest. ”

“ The North Wind is the most hated wind that blows!"
"Indeed, Dame Grumble!" the North Wind would reply. "How would the boys and girls ever skate if I did not blow in winter time? How would the forest and orchards ever have time to make their new green leaves and flowers for the springtime, if I did not lock the earth tight each winter? ”

“ This stormy weather occurs most frequently in the torrid zone, where the heat is greatest: the air being more rarefied [Pg 147] there, than in any other part of the globe, is lighter, and consequently, ascends; whilst the air from the north and south, is continually flowing in, to restore the equilibrium.
Caroline. This motion of the air, would produce a regular and constant north wind, to the inhabitants of the northern hemisphere; and a south wind, to those of the southern hemisphere, and continual storms at the equator, where these two adverse winds would meet. ”

“ The wind, which we found so grateful, had increased steadily till it blew in strong gusts—a dense cloud spread over the west—while in the east, the sky faded to a chalky whiteness, low thunders muttered in the mountains, and faint shudders crept through the leaves ”

“ Toward storms, or belts of showers which would be storms if it were not summer and the tropical [Pg 120] tendency to showers active in the trade, which pass mainly to the north of us, or commence north and pass over us, condensing south while progressing east, the wind may commence blowing before the body of the storm reaches us, from any point between south by west and south east, particularly in the summer season and in the afternoon. ”

“ But that which mends the Earth, spoils the Air, which would be all Fog and Mist, if it were not clear'd by the sharpness of their Frosts, which never fail with every East Wind for about four Months of the year, and are much fiercer than in the same Latitude with us, because that Wind comes to them over a mighty length of dry Continent ”

“ When, on the contrary, the east wind blows, it purifies the air by causing the injurious emanations to rise, so that they cannot be thrown back upon the west. It is evident, then, that the inhabitants of the western parts receive pure air from whatever part of the horizon it comes. We will add, that the west wind is most prevalent, and the west end receives it all fresh from the country. ”

“ The strong southerly and southeast winds that prevail here during the summer season are the most severe, and, strange to say, they are the ones which are the coldest and the chilliest—a [Pg 123] north wind is always warmer! ”