According to Buys Ballot's Law, when an observer in the Southern Hemisphere experiences a northwest wind, where is the center of the low pressure located?
• Buys Ballot's Law and how it differs between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres • The relationship between wind direction and the location of low pressure • How to visualize standing with your back to the wind in the Southern Hemisphere
• First, recall what Buys Ballot's Law says in words for the Southern Hemisphere when you stand with your back to the wind. • Imagine you are in the Southern Hemisphere with a northwest wind: where is the wind coming from, and how are you facing when your back is to that wind? • From that facing direction, determine on which side (left or right, and slightly forward or backward) the low pressure center will lie.
• Be sure you are using the Southern Hemisphere version of the rule, not the Northern. • Confirm you understand that a northwest wind means the wind is blowing from the northwest toward the southeast. • After you decide your facing direction (back to the wind), verify the compass point where the low should lie relative to your body, then match that to the closest answer choice.
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