Costa
Rica is located in the Northern Hemisphere and lies between latitudes ranging
from 8 degrees North to 11.04 degrees North, and longitudes ranging from 82.36
degrees West to 85.56 degrees West. In respect to atmospheric cells, Costa Rica
is situated in the Hadley Cell. This cell ranges from the equator to about 30
degrees in latitude, which places Costa Rica well in that range. The wind belt
in which Costa Rica is located is the Northeasterly Trade Winds, meaning the
winds are coming from the Northeast and blowing towards the West. These trade
winds occur right at or near the equator in both the Northern and Southern
Hemispheres. Costa Rica is also located near a low main pressure belt, which
runs along the equator. It is also located near a “special” area known as the
Doldrums, where the trade winds from the Northern Hemisphere meet the trade
winds from the Southern Hemisphere.
Costa
Rica is a country that consists of a few mountains and a few more volcanoes.
Five types of winds that could be associated with these elevated formations
could be mountain breezes, valley breezes, Eddies, Chinook winds (associated
primarily with the Rocky Mountains), and Katabatic winds. Out of these five,
Costa Rica experiences mountain breezes and valley breezes along with
occasional Eddies. These breezes flow up or down the mountains and volcanoes,
depending on the breeze, and tend to keep the valley a nice moderate
temperature throughout the year. Along with the mountains and volcanoes, the
country is surrounded by water on both sides giving it two coastlines. The two
breezes associated with these coastlines are sea breezes and land breezes and
Costa Rica experiences both of them.
My country of Zimbabwe is located within the hadley cell as well. Albeit, the southern hemisphere Hadley cell. This makes our trade winds almost the mirror images of each other with yours coming from the Northeast and mine coming from the Southwest. Zimbabwe unfortunately has no coastline, so the only winds we really have in common are the valley and mountain breezes. Your climate must be wetter because you are in the area where the warm moist air rises in the Hadley cell. Zimbabwe is actually almost right in the middle of the cell, which means less precipitation comparatively.
ReplyDeleteHi Robert!
ReplyDeleteI think it's cool knowing the weather and climate in Costa Rica and how you supported it with the things we learned in class about winds. I didn't know that one side of the country is drier than the other because of the mountains affecting the winds. Our countries seem to have some similarities and differences though which I also find interesting. Unlike Costa Rica, Tanzania is located in the Southern Hemisphere just below the equator. A similarity our country have is that they are both located in the Hadley cell, although different hemispheres. Your post was really interesting though!
New Zealand is pretty opposite of Costa Rica! We are in the Southern Hemisphere and in the Ferrel Cell where we aredominated by prevailing westerlies. Since New Zealands an Island with Mountains too we still get similar breezes and winds!
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