Azores Anticyclone

a region of high atmospheric pressure which appears on long-range mean charts over the subtropical region of the Atlantic Ocean in the northern hemisphere. The Azores anticyclone, the best known center of atmospheric activity, is particularly well defined during the summer. Its center, close to the 35th parallel, is near the Azores. In the winter a branch of the anticyclone extends into the Sahara; in the summer, to the Mediterranean and Southern Europe. The pressure in the center in January is higher than 1,022 millibars; in July it is higher than 1,025 millibars. The Azores anticyclone is the result of a distinct predominance of anticyclones over cyclones during the entire year in this region of the ocean. It is a center of tropical maritime air masses; the interaction of these with the masses of polar air on the Atlantic polar front produces intensive cyclone activity over the ocean which strongly affects the weather and climate of Europe. Clear, calm, and dry weather predominates inside the anticyclone. In the lower latitudes, the North Atlantic trade winds blow along the equatorial periphery of the Azores anticyclone. The Pacific Ocean equivalent to the Azores anticyclone is the North Pacific (Hawaiian) anticyclone.