Geostrophic winds cannot be exactly parallel to isobars
"Lawrence DčOliveiro" wrote in message
...
... Which I took to mean, that component of the
pressure gradient force perpendicular to the direction of the wind.
As long as the drag is nonzero, there must be a component of the
pressure gradient force in the direction of the motion of the wind, to
offset the drag. So the wind can never be exactly parallel to the
isobars.
Why?
The fact that the air is moving at all, is determined by the pressure
gradient force (PGF). The fact that it's direction is 90 degrees offset to
the PGF is a function of the coriolis effect... you cannot ask for *more*
PGF in that direction.
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