earth science

North American High

North American High is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand North American High rather than just read about it. In short: The North American High (also Canadian High/Anticyclone, sometimes in Europe Greenland High/Anticyclone) is an impermanent high-pressure area or anticyclone created by a formative process that occurs when cool or cold dry air settles over North America. During summer, it is replaced with an Arctic Low, or a North American Low should it move over continental land.

Key takeaways

North American High belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect North American High to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of North American High from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The North American High (also Canadian High/Anticyclone, sometimes in Europe Greenland High/Anticyclone) is an impermanent high-pressure area or anticyclone created by a formative process that occurs when cool or cold dry air settles over North America. During summer, it is replaced with an Arctic Low, or a North American Low should it move over continental land.

Description A North American High moves eastward across the continent, often in the company of one or more low-pressure cells or cyclones. The cold, dense air does not extend usually above 3 km (1.9 mi) and is lower than the Canadian Rockies mountain range. Occasionally during winter, a North American High passes over the Rockies resulting in a cold front into Southwestern United States and Mexico, freezing crops and producing snow into Mexico's mountains, as far south as Jalisco. The North American High's distance from the warm Pacific Ocean as well as its protection from the Rockies to its West reinforces its intensity. The average January sea level pressure at its centre is approximately 1,020 millibars (30.12 inches of mercury). The Canadian high often moves south-eastward until it reaches the Atlantic Ocean, where it merges with the Azores High. During summer, the Canadian high circulates cool, dry air to the United States located east of the Rockies and parts of southern Canada. The North American High is akin to the Siberian High of Eurasia, though much smaller, and has much less influence, merely affecting the weather of the Northern Hemisphere. The sea-level pressure (atmospheric pressure) rarely, if ever, exceeds 1055 millibars (1055 hectopascals)(hPa)(SI). Often, in the winter months, cool or cold dry air settles over the land in the vicinity of the Great Basin where it builds into a high-pressure cell or anticyclone that moves across the United States with a cold front on its leading edge. After reaching the Atlantic Ocean, the moist environment results in a change of air quality and the dissipation of the high-pressure cell or anticyclone as the cold air warms and becomes humid. In Europe, a portion of the North American/Canadian High commonly over Greenland, called the Greenland High, affects northern European weather and may merge with the Scandinavian High.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with North American High

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what North American High claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to North American High before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about North American High ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of North American High

In research: North American High appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses North American High in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: North American High is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Anticyclones, Climate of Canada, Climate of Greenland, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for North American High outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study North American High in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what North American High means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain North American High out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is North American High in simple terms?

Why does North American High matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study North American High?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on North American High.