The wind systems

• Wind


  The movement of air caused by the uneven heating of the Earth by the sun and Earth's rotation
• Characteristics of air that generate wind

  • Temperature
  • Density
  • Pressure

  
• Warm air


  Less dense
• Cold air


  More dense
• Warm air

  Creates less pressure
• Cold air


  Creates more pressure
• Movement of air


  Air moves from high pressure area to low pressure area

  
• Prevailing winds


  • Largely predictable
  • Named for broad areas of the Earth over which they form

  
• Prevailing winds in the Philippines


  • Northeast Trade Winds (February to May)
• Monsoons


  Seasonal winds
• Northeast Monsoon


  • Amihan (November to February)
• Southwest Monsoon


  • Habagat (May to October)
• Sea breezes


  Inland areas heat up on sunny afternoons, causing warm air to rise, and cooler air from the ocean rushes in to take its place

  
• Land breezes


  Inland temperatures drop enough at night that the ocean is now warmer than the land, reversing the effect

  
• Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)


  The region where the trade winds of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres meet near the equator

  
• ITCZ


  Affects rainfall and weather in the tropics