- The winds which blow between 30 N and 60 S latitudes throughout the year are known as westerlies.
- The moist air masses that cause winterrains in North-Western region of India are part of westerlies.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (b)
Statement 1 is not correct: Westerlies are prevailing winds that blow from the west at midlatitudes (between 30 and 60 degrees latitudes). The strongest westerlies blow through the “Roaring Forties,” a wind zone between 40 and 50 degrees latitude in the Southern Hemisphere. They tend to blow from the high-pressure area in the horse latitudes towards the poles. The Westerlies play an important role in carrying the warm, equatorial waters and winds to the western coasts of continents, especially in the southern hemisphere because of its vast oceanic expanse.
Statement 2 is correct: The western cyclonic disturbances which enter the Indian subcontinent from the west and the northwest during the winter months originate over the Mediterranean Sea and are brought into India by the westerly jet stream. An increase in the prevailing night temperature generally indicates an advance in the arrival of these cyclones’ disturbances.