Why hurricanes go east to west instead of west to east as other Northern hemisphere weather?

Answer 1

Two Things. The Coriolis Effect, and the Bermuda High.
First, is The Coriolis Effect. Since the Earth spins Everything on the ground spins with it. It is easier to explain in examples. So, imagine the earth like a round cardboard circle. Start spinning the cardboard, but not too fast.. Put a ruler just above the spinning, so it doesn't actually touch the cardboard. Draw a line using the ruler as a straight edge. Notice how the "straight" line is curved.
Now think of a hurricane as a straight line. It starts to curve when it goes north.
The Bermuda High is a high pressure. The winds at the high pressure spin clockwise. When Hurricanes go north, the clockwise winds push it northeast. This also explains why some hurricanes go right along the eastern coast and curves back towards Europe.

Answer 2

Actually, the Bermuda High has little to do with it. Though it is considered a "synoptic influence"... as I`ll mention later.....

The "Bermuda High" isn't`t a permanent fixture. It comes and goes, even during Hurricane Season. Its the general placement of it that gives it its name, not that it is a constant system.


To the answer....

I believe another poster already mentioned this, and they were correct, but I`ll add a little of my own "spin."

The trade winds move the systems westward, and they will gradually begin to drift more towards the NW/NNW, the degree of the turn depends completely on synoptic influences. Eventually, the storm will get "hooked up" with a trough, cool front, or some other low pressure system, and begin to "recurve" north, and then northeastward... into the prevailing westerlies, which will then "take it away."
Again, the specific synoptic setup is the ultimate determining factor.

Hope this helps.
Take care...
Weather_Wise911

Answer 3

In the temperate zone between about 30 north and 65 north, weather systems usually go west to east. But closer to the equator, where you get hurricanes, weather systems often go the opposite way. Same is true in southern hemisphere.Sometimes hurricanes stray into the temperate zone and become extra-tropical depressions, which are like deep low pressure systems, and then they usually move west to east.

Answer 4

Much for the same reason it is approaching winter in Australia now. Usually the weather South of the equator is going in the opposite direction than our weather here in the states. Most of the hurricanes we get in the SE originate from the West coast of the African coast. If I'm wrong, it certainly was a great stab at it!

Answer 5

It can lead to a long & complicated discussion, but basically easterly winds prevail in the topics. Thus the most common hurricane track is one which originates over the tropical Atlantic, heads almost due W for awhile, gradually turns more toward N (to WNW then NW), then more aburptly to the N when encountering the westerlies and soon makes a sharper turn to the NE.

Answer 6

The exceptions may well be storms that are in the northern or western bands of a great low tension device, or a retrograding low. With a retrograde low, the low will become cut back off from the steerage jet flow, and might circulate in a east to west trend for a quick time.

Answer 7

Because they are in the tropics and that is the direction storms travel in the tropics. it has something to do with the earths rotation

Answer 8

because hurricanes that come to the u.s. originate in the waters off the coast of africa.

Answer 9

terms to look up
Hadley cells
cyclones and anti-cyclones
Coriolis effect
ocean currents
easterly and westerly winds (aka trade winds)
the dole-drums