anticyclone

Literally means "the opposite of a cyclone." The term was suggested by the English scientist Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911) to describe the area of the atmosphere with characteristics opposite to those of a cyclone, depression, or low-pressure system. It can be defined as an area of considerably greater extent than a low-pressure system, where the pressure is higher than in its surroundings. In anticyclones, atmospheric pressure increases as one moves from outside toward the center, reaching its maximum value in the central part. On weather maps they are indicated with the letter A (uppercase), are delimited by closed lines - isobars or isohypses, depending on the type of map - and their shape tends to be oval. Air circulation around them is clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the south, forming in all cases large areas of subsidence (sinking air). The weather associated with an anticyclone is marked by the presence of light winds, absence of precipitation, and mostly clear or slightly cloudy skies; the latter does not always occur, however, since favorable conditions for fog formation sometimes arise. A distinction is made between warm and cold anticyclones, depending on the thermal characteristics of the air mass in which they form.