# Polar easterlies

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Dry, cold prevailing winds within Earth's polar regions

Not to be confused with [Easterlies](/source/Trade_winds).

In the [study](/source/Meteorology) of [Earth's atmosphere](/source/Atmosphere_of_Earth), **polar easterlies** are the dry, cold [prevailing winds](/source/Prevailing_winds) that blow around the high-[pressure](/source/Atmospheric_pressure) areas of the [polar highs](/source/Polar_high) at the [North](/source/North_Pole) and [South](/source/South_Pole) poles.[1] [Cold](/source/Cold) air [subsides](/source/Subsidence_(atmosphere)) at the poles creating high pressure zones, forcing an [equatorward](/source/Equator) outflow of air; that outflow is then deflected westward by the [Coriolis effect](/source/Coriolis_effect). Unlike the [westerlies](/source/Westerlies) in the [middle latitudes](/source/Middle_latitudes) and [trade winds](/source/Trade_winds) in tropics, the polar easterlies are often weak and irregular. Note, winds are named based on where they came from. The polar easterlies are one of the five primary wind zones, known as wind belts, that make up our atmosphere's circulatory system. This particular belt of wind begins at approximately 60 degrees north and south latitude and reaches to the poles.

## See also

- [Westerlies](/source/Westerlies)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Glossary of Meteorology (2009).They are called Easterlies because the blow from the east [Polar easterlies.](http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?.p=1&query=polar+easterlies&submit=Search) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20110917073135/http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?.p=1&query=polar+easterlies&submit=Search) 2011-09-17 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) [American Meteorological Society](/source/American_Meteorological_Society). Retrieved on 2009-04-15.

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