Norway is located in the northern hemisphere at a latitude between 57° to 71° North and a longitude between 4° West to 31° East. Norway is therefore located in both the ferrel cell and the polar cell. Norway is affected by the westerlies from south and the polar easterlies from north. The westerlies blows from west towards north east. The polar easterlies blows irregular from north and east towards south west. These warm, moist westerly winds meets the colder, dryer easterlies and makes up an front. This front is called the Polar front and represents a huge difference in temperature between these two winds. In the Polar front the warmer air masses from south meets the colder air masses from north and is pushed up by the colder air. This creates a low- pressure belt that influences the weather and climate in Norway.
Norway is located in the Westerly wind belt, and as I mentioned, the westerlies blows from west towards east. Norway has a long coastline located in west, so the climate and weather in Norway is very much affected by these westerly winds.
With Norway being located so far north it is also strongly affected by the low-pressure system along the polar front. The polar front is located over Norway for the most of the time during the year. This low-pressure system is created near the surface, while higher up in the atmosphere there is a polar jet stream that carries these winds towards east. Norway is pretty long in extent though, so the northern part and the southern parts of Norway normally does not experience low-pressure at the same time.
In the Polar front the warmer air masses from the westerlies meets the colder air masses from the polar easterlies and the warmer air gets pushed up. This warm, moist air is transported with the westerlies to the Norwegian western coast where the air masses is experiencing forced lifting by the mountains. This forced lifting creates orographic precipitation some miles from the coast, while the inner part of the country are lee areas in relation to the winds coming from west. The wettest areas is therefore near the coast (west), while the driest areas are located behind the coastal mountain ranges (east), in the "rain shadow areas".
So, in Norway the westerly wind belt has a huge impact on both the coastal and the continental climate.
There is also a lot of frontal precipitation in Norway due to the Polar Front. When a cyclone develops along the polar front zone the warm air rises above the cold air, cools and releases precipitation. The polar front contributes with humid air masses over Norway throughout the whole year, but the cyclone activity is greatest in autumn and wintertime.
There is also a lot of frontal precipitation in Norway due to the Polar Front. When a cyclone develops along the polar front zone the warm air rises above the cold air, cools and releases precipitation. The polar front contributes with humid air masses over Norway throughout the whole year, but the cyclone activity is greatest in autumn and wintertime.
Norway is a mountainous country and experiences a lot of different winds and breezes due to the differences in altitude. The three most typically winds or breezes that Norway experiences due to the mountains are mountain breezes, valley breezes, and orographic lifting. The mountain- and valley breezes are day and nighttime phenomena due to different heating of the valley floor and walls. Orographic lifting on the other hand is due to moist air getting pushed up when they meet the high mountains and the air starts condensing and clouds and precipitation occurs. Because of this relationship between the air and the mountains some parts of norway experience a lot of orographic precipitation, while others are more dry areas because their are located in flat areas or behind the mountains where there is a "rain shadow".
Norway has a long coastline all the way from south to north along the west side of the country. Coastlines usually experience both sea breezes and land breezes. These breezes are day- and nighttime phenomenas, but also seasonally phenomenas. In the summer Norway experiences a lot of sea-breeze and land-breeze during the winter. These breezes are due to the differential heating of land and water and creates high and low pressures that forms the winds. This explains why there are stronger winds near the coasts then inland.
Our countries seem so similar and so different at the same time! We both experience westerly winds and lie at least partially in the Ferrel cell, but South Africa is in the Southern Hemisphere and experiences high pressure instead of low pressure. One thing I saw in your post that I was a little confused about relates to the different types of winds--is orographic lifting technically a wind type? If so, I definitely missed that one in my own post!
ReplyDeleteNorway and Nepal differ in the respect of global winds because your country is influenced by the Westerlies while Nepal is affected by the north east trade winds. Another major difference between our countries is that Norway lies in the Ferrell and polar cell, while Nepal lies in the Hadley cell. Two very different portions of the global pressure bands. One similarity that our countries share is mountain breezes. Local winds are created by orographic lifting over our countries mountain ranges, as well as valley breezes in-between the mountains.
ReplyDeleteMadagascar and Norway are different because they are in such different locations in the world. Norway reaches into the polar cell where Madagascar lies in the center of the Hadley cell. Norway is much closer to the pole than Madagascar is which explains temperature differences. The winds come from different directions but they both have a shoreline so they share similar coastline breezes. They also both have mountains so their mountain breezes are similar too.
ReplyDeleteNorway and Canada both lie in the same cells and experience the same wind. We both experience the same cold polar weather in one part of our country and the ferrel cell westerlies in another. We have similar mountainous features and winds but my country has more flat ground which creates for a more diverse wind pattern and option for the westerlies to travel across. I thought it was cool that we have similar mountainous areas nearby the coasts.
ReplyDeleteOur contries differs in a lot of ways, like my country is located in the southern hemisphere and your in the northern. Both of our countries is located between two cells, your in polar and ferrell cell, and mine in ferrell and hadley cell. Atleast some part of our countries is both located in ferrell cell. Another similarities is that both of our countries share mountain and valley breezes.
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