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At 18 UTC, you're at an airport, in central Europe, located far from both mountains and the sea, and the weather is clear. What changes can you expect in the wind in the next few hours? The wind…

  • A

    Veers and increases.

  • B

    Veers and decreases.

  • C

    Backs and increases.

  • D

    Backs and decreases.

During the day, the Earth's surface warms, reaching its peak temperature around 15:00 local mean time. This warming affects surface winds due to rising thermal currents, which disrupt the normal horizontal airflow and enhance mixing. As a result, low-level winds interact with stronger winds aloft, leading to an overall increase in surface wind speed.

At night, with reduced surface heating, wind speeds decrease. This weaker wind results in a diminished Coriolis force, causing the surface wind to deviate more from the geostrophic wind. Conversely, during the day, stronger winds enhance the Coriolis effect, reducing this deviation.

  • In the Northern Hemisphere, surface winds tend to increase and veer during the day and decrease and back at night.

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