The Coriolis effect diverts winds in the Northern hemisphere to the right, and in the Southern hemisphere to the left. Thus, in the northern hemisphere, winds blowing from north to south will be diverted westwards, while winds blowing from south to north would be diverted eastwards. The reverse will happen in the Southern hemisphere.
The Coriolis effect is more pronounced the further you go from the equator, i.e most pronounced at the poles, and negligible at the equator (which is why you almost never get cyclones at the equator itself. Cyclones rarely occur in the latitudes between 8 degrees north and 8 degrees south).
So far, so good, but this is all in the books, therefore not novel. I tried to think of a practical application of this that cannot be gleaned from the books. If one puts the two things above together, one can hypothesise that winds blowing southwards from the North pole would be directed westwards, and thus hit east facing coasts, while winds blowing northwards from the equator would be directed eastwards, and thus hit west facing coasts. It should follow therefore, that for large landmasses, equilatitudinal places should be warmer on the West coast than the East coast.
But are they?
So I randomly picked three pairs of locations, on East and west coasts, all reasonably to the north (so that the Coreolis effect would be prominent) to compare their average temperatures. By comparing places located at sea level, altitude is largely eliminated as a factor. Here are the results.
Arviat, located at 61 North on the Nunavut peninsula on the East Coast of Canada, has an average annual temp of -9 degree C. Hooper Bay, 61 North, located on the west coast of Alaska, USA, has an average annual temp of -1.7 degree C.
Portland, Maine, 43.66 North, on the Eastern seaboard, has an average annual temp of 7.4 degree C. Newport, Oregon, 44.63 North, on the West coast, has an average annual temp of 10.7 degree C. Note that Newport is actually a degree north of Portland.
To avoid local variations, I then took two places virtually miles apart, facing each other across the Bering Strait at around 65 North. Lorino, located on the East coast of Russia, has an average annual temp of -6 degree C. Teller, Alaska, on the West coast has an average annual temp of -4.9 degree C.
In the Southern hemisphere, things should reverse, and the East coast should be warmer. And it is. Two South American towns located at around 36.5 South-Concepcion, on the West coast of Chile, has an average annual temp of 12 degree C, while Santa Teresita, on the East coast of Argentina, averages 15.2 degree C.
Moving to Australia, we consider Sydney on the East coast, averaging 18.5 degree C annually, compared with Bunbury on the West coast, which averages 16.8 degree C. Both are around 33-34 degrees South.
Interesting, isn't it? Although the pairings were completely random, I deliberately left out places in the extreme south of South America, as it's very mountainous down one coast.
The Coriolis effect is more pronounced the further you go from the equator, i.e most pronounced at the poles, and negligible at the equator (which is why you almost never get cyclones at the equator itself. Cyclones rarely occur in the latitudes between 8 degrees north and 8 degrees south).
So far, so good, but this is all in the books, therefore not novel. I tried to think of a practical application of this that cannot be gleaned from the books. If one puts the two things above together, one can hypothesise that winds blowing southwards from the North pole would be directed westwards, and thus hit east facing coasts, while winds blowing northwards from the equator would be directed eastwards, and thus hit west facing coasts. It should follow therefore, that for large landmasses, equilatitudinal places should be warmer on the West coast than the East coast.
But are they?
So I randomly picked three pairs of locations, on East and west coasts, all reasonably to the north (so that the Coreolis effect would be prominent) to compare their average temperatures. By comparing places located at sea level, altitude is largely eliminated as a factor. Here are the results.
Arviat, located at 61 North on the Nunavut peninsula on the East Coast of Canada, has an average annual temp of -9 degree C. Hooper Bay, 61 North, located on the west coast of Alaska, USA, has an average annual temp of -1.7 degree C.
Portland, Maine, 43.66 North, on the Eastern seaboard, has an average annual temp of 7.4 degree C. Newport, Oregon, 44.63 North, on the West coast, has an average annual temp of 10.7 degree C. Note that Newport is actually a degree north of Portland.
To avoid local variations, I then took two places virtually miles apart, facing each other across the Bering Strait at around 65 North. Lorino, located on the East coast of Russia, has an average annual temp of -6 degree C. Teller, Alaska, on the West coast has an average annual temp of -4.9 degree C.
In the Southern hemisphere, things should reverse, and the East coast should be warmer. And it is. Two South American towns located at around 36.5 South-Concepcion, on the West coast of Chile, has an average annual temp of 12 degree C, while Santa Teresita, on the East coast of Argentina, averages 15.2 degree C.
Moving to Australia, we consider Sydney on the East coast, averaging 18.5 degree C annually, compared with Bunbury on the West coast, which averages 16.8 degree C. Both are around 33-34 degrees South.
Interesting, isn't it? Although the pairings were completely random, I deliberately left out places in the extreme south of South America, as it's very mountainous down one coast.
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