Low pressure area facts for kids

An example of a low-pressure system off the southwestern coast of Iceland on September 4, 2003.

A low pressure area, or low for short, is a word used in meteorology (the study of weather) that means a place where the atmospheric pressure is lowest compared to the surrounding area. Coriolis effect causes winds to blow counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in southern hemisphere. This makes storms like tropical cyclones, extratropical cyclones, subtropical cyclones, and subpolar cyclones. They are called "low-pressure cells" in some English-speaking countries.

Images for kids

A clockwise spinning low-pressure area or cyclone of southern Australia. The center of the spiral-shaped cloud system is also the center of the low.
This depiction of the Hadley cell shows the process which sustains low-pressure areas. Diverging winds aloft allow for lower pressure and convergence at the Earth's surface, which leads to upward motion.
QuikSCAT image of typical extratropical cyclones over the ocean. Note the maximum winds on the poleward side of the occluded front.
February position of the ITCZ and monsoon trough in the Pacific Ocean, depicted by area of convergent streamlines offshore Australia and in the equatorial eastern Pacific
Infrared image of a powerful northern hemisphere cyclone, Megi, at its peak intensity