Prevailing westerlies — Science definition
The belt of winds in the mid-latitudes, including New York, that generally blows from west to east, steering most weather systems that way.
Where it is taught
- Reading Weather Patterns — Atmosphere & Weather, Earth & Space Science, Grade 9
In use
Here's the pattern forecasters in New York lean on every single day: in the mid-latitudes, weather generally marches from west to east, carried along by a broad belt of winds called the prevailing westerlies and by the fast, high-altitude river of air known as the jet stream.
Reading Weather Patterns