How is it east United States is so humid and the west is so dry?
In: 4
The prevailing winds – the ones created by the effect of the earth rotating, go from west to east in the northern hemisphere.
The winds come over the Pacific Ocean picking up moisture, then hit to coast and climb the mountains. As the air rises, it cools because of the decreasing air pressure. As it cools, the amount of moisture it can carry decreases, and it rains. This is why the west coast is wet. By the time the air makes it over the first range and comes down the other side, it is bone dry – and we get dessert on the leeward side of the mountains.
As the air then moves across the continent it picks up what moisture there is, and the weather gets less and less dry the further east it goes.
All over planet earth, the windward side of mountains are wet, the leeward side is dry.
Latest Answers