Question

On a given day, the surface pressures in various cities are given as: 1011 mbar Boston, MA 990 mbar Chicago, IL 998 mbar Detroit, MI 1009 mbar New York, NY The isobars are running approximately parallel to the lines of longitude (ie. north-south). Which way are the winds aloft blowing in Ann Arbor? All of the cities are roughly at the same latitude (north-south distance from the equator). From west to east (left to right on a map with north being up), the relevant cities are Chicago, Ann Arbor, Detroit, New York, Boston.

Answer 1

Answer:

The wind is blowing right to left in Ann Arbor.

Explanation:

First keep this in mind that wind blows from high pressure to low pressure. The pressure in Chicago, which is on left on Ann Arbor, is 990 mbar and the pressure is in Detroit, which is on right on Ann Arbor, is 998 mbar. So the pressure on right of Ann Arbor is 998 mbar and on its left is 990 mbar. Wind blows from higher to lower pressure and therefore, the wind in Ann Arbor will flow from right to left.