CORIOLIS "EFFECT"

1. Deflects all FRICTIONLESS MOVING objects to the RIGHT in the Northern Hemisphere.

Examples: airplanes, ocean currents, projectiles, the wind.

2. Is MAXIMUM at the Poles and ZERO at the Equator.
3. Is, for a given time interval and at a given latitude, GREATER the FASTER the speed of the moving object.

Example: Over a 1 hour interval, a plane moving 1000 mph is deflected more than a ship moving 20 mph.
4. Is, for a given speed and at a given latitude, GREATER the LONGER the time interval an object is in motion.

Example: a 5 mph ocean current acting over a month long period is deflected more than a plane moving 400 mph for three hours.

Important Result: An object moving 20 mph would have to travel over 100 miles before a noticable deflection would occur.

Thus, Coriolis Effect is important in understanding air motion for:

  1. jet streams (circle the globe)
  2. extratropical storm systems (500 to 1000 miles diameter)
  3. hurricanes (500 miles diameter)

Is less important in understanding air motion for thunderstorms (10 to 100 miles diameter)

Is hardly important at all in understanding air motion for tornadoes (10s of yards to 1/2 mile in diameter)

Is not important at all in understanding motion of water into a drain.