According to Buys Ballot's law, when an observer in the Northern Hemisphere experiences a northwest wind, where is the center of low pressure located?
• Buys Ballot's law in the Northern Hemisphere (stand with your back to the wind; low pressure is on a particular side) • What a northwest wind actually means in terms of where the wind is coming from and going to • The idea that air flows counterclockwise around lows in the Northern Hemisphere
• First, picture yourself standing so that the wind is blowing on your back. With a northwest wind, which way are you facing? • According to Buys Ballot’s law in the Northern Hemisphere, once your back is to the wind, which side of your body is the low-pressure center on? • From your position, turn that side-of-body direction into a map direction (N, NE, E, SE, etc.). Which compass point does that correspond to?
• Confirm that a northwest wind is named for where it comes from, not where it is going. • Make sure you are using the rule for the Northern Hemisphere, not the Southern Hemisphere (they're opposite). • Double-check that the direction you choose matches the side-of-body direction (left/right) after you turn your back to the wind.
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