Convergence zone
meteorological phenomenon
A convergence zone in meteorology is a region in the atmosphere where two prevailing flows meet and interact, usually resulting in distinctive weather conditions.
This causes a mass accumulation that eventually leads to a vertical movement and to the formation of clouds and precipitation. Large-scale convergence, called synoptic-scale convergence, is associated with weather systems such as baroclinic troughs, low-pressure areas, and cyclones. The large-scale convergence zone formed over the equator, the Intertropical Convergence Zone, has condensed and intensified as a result of the global increase in temperature. Small-scale convergence will give phenomena from isolated cumulus clouds to large areas of thunderstorms.
The inverse of convergence is divergence, such as the horse latitudes.
Large scale
An example of a convergence zone is the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), a low pressure area which girdles the Earth at the Equator. Another example is the South Pacific convergence zone that extends from the western Pacific Ocean toward French Polynesia.
The Intertropical Convergence Zone is the result of the northeasterly trade winds and southeasterly trade winds converging in an area of high latent heat and low pressure. As the two trade winds converge, the cool, dry air collects moisture from the warm ocean and rises, contributing to cloud formation and precipitation.
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This entry incorporates text from “Convergence zone” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.