I’m reading your excellent Mariner’s Weather Handbook. Thank you for a clearly written explanation of weather processes. I am confused on one important point however. In the sections starting with “Ridges and Troughs” (p. 127 +), if I understand correctly, a RIDGE occurs when the 500 mb pressure is at a higher elevation than the surrounding 500 Mb air and at the surface underneath the ridge is an area of LOW pressure. However, when I listen to the weather broadcasts (NOAA, weather radio, nightly TV news, the weather channel) they all refer to RIDGES of HIGH pressure! Did I miss something?–Steve
Hi Steve: What the TV folks are talking about is the surface weather features, and here they talk about pressure–i.e. high pressure ridges, etc. At the 500 Mb level and above the discussion is in terms of heights of pressure. Hence the difference (and often confusion) in terms. Regards–Steve Dashew
Posted by Steve Dashew (November 30, 1999)
