I cannot understand for the life of me the idea of low pressure vs high pressure in the atmosphere. Example: hurricane Milton has one of the lowest pressures ever recorded. Tried watching videos, reading, etc. Seems counterintuitive that low pressure = bad weather and high pressure = good weather?
In: Physics
Low pressure air is warm, High pressure air is cold.
When you have warmer air, it can hold on to more evaporated water. More evaporated water in the air (humidity) makes it easier for rain clouds to form. Warm air also has a tendency to rise above cold air, which carries the humidity upwards allowing it to cool and form clouds. It takes time for cooler air to fill the space left by the warm air rising, so you get a low pressure area.
Cold air doesn’t like to have very much evaporated water in it. Less water in the air means less cloud formation, especially since cold air likes to sink towards the ground. This sinking air causes a high pressure area since it takes time for the air to spread out.
Hurricanes turn everything up to 11, and lower pressure in the eye of the storm means the air is warmer and evaporating more water to add to the strength of the storm.
Hope that helps.
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