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earth science

North Pacific High

North Pacific 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 Pacific High rather than just read about it. In short: The North Pacific High is a semi-permanent, subtropical anticyclone located in the northeastern portion of the Pacific Ocean, located northeast of Hawaii and west of California. It is part of the great belt of anticyclones known as the subtropical ridge.

North Pacific High — main illustration
North Pacific High — illustration

Key takeaways

  • North Pacific 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 Pacific High to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of North Pacific High from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The North Pacific High is a semi-permanent, subtropical anticyclone located in the northeastern portion of the Pacific Ocean, located northeast of Hawaii and west of California. It is part of the great belt of anticyclones known as the subtropical ridge. It is strongest during the northern hemisphere summer and shifts towards the equator during the winter, when the Aleutian Low becomes more active. It is responsible for California's typically dry summer and fall and typically wet winter and spring, as well as Hawaii's year-round trade winds. During the 2011–2017 California drought, the North Pacific High persisted longer than usual, due to a mass of warm water in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge. This significantly limited the number of powerful winter storms that were able to reach California, resulting in historic drought conditions in that state for several years.

See also

California Current El Niño–Southern Oscillation North Pacific Current South Pacific High

References

External links "Avoiding the Pacific high". Ocean Navigator. 1 January 2003. Retrieved 13 May 2019. Kern E. Kenyon (April 1999). "North Pacific High: an hypothesis". Atmospheric Research. 51 (1): 15–34. Bibcode:1999AtmRe..51...15K. doi:10.1016/s0169-8095(98)00110-0.

Illustrations

North Pacific High illustration

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with North Pacific High

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what North Pacific 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 Pacific 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 Pacific 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 Pacific High

In research
North Pacific 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 Pacific 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 Pacific High is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Anticyclones, Pacific Ocean, Regional climate effects, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for North Pacific 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 Pacific High in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is North Pacific High in simple terms?

The North Pacific High is a semi-permanent, subtropical anticyclone located in the northeastern portion of the Pacific Ocean, located northeast of Hawaii and west of California. It is part of the great belt of anticyclones known as the subtropical ridge.

Why does North Pacific 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 Pacific 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 Pacific High.

Tags

  • Anticyclones
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Regional climate effects

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