How come storms and showers move from west to east in the US, while hurricanes move east to west?

Question

How come storms and showers move from west to east in the US, while hurricanes move east to west?

Answer 1

In the U.S, the Jet stream is what pushes fronts across the nation. Since the Jet stream usually runs from west to east, that is why weather fronts travel in that direction. But, sometimes the jet streat does not run west to east. Right now, on the east coast, it is running from south to north, and that is why the northern portions of the east coast are being hit with a lot of rain since a weather front is running from south to north. Also, in some cases, you can get a backboor front, which means it is running from east to west. But, for the most part, fronts will travel from west to east in the U.S.

With hurricanes, it depends on where it forms. Hurricanes that started near the Cape Verde Islands will travel from east to west because of the winds coming off the west coast of Africa, and in that part of the world, trade winds tend to travel from east to west. In the gulf of mexico, winds tend to blow from south to north, but if a hurricane forms there, it can go in any direction, so that is why all the gulf states can get hit by a hurricane at anytime when one forms or goes into the gulf of mexico.

Answer 2

It's due to the trade winds- winds at the equator. Due to uneven heating of the earth, with the equator receiving the most heating, the tropical warm air is constantly rising and moving toward the poles, with the Coriolis effect making it appear easterly.

From about 30 degree Latitude, the winds become the "Prevailing Westerlies".

Hurricanes are formed in the Tropics. Once they move further north and reach around 30 degrees Lat, they begin to move with the prevailing westerly winds.

Answer 3

Because of our lattitude, we have southwesterly prevailing winds which causes the wind to move in the general direction of SW to NE.  Hurricanes move from the carribean upwards because that is the direction of the ocean currents and hurricanses need warm, moist air to form.  Hurricanes form in the general carribean area and move northward or NW due to the direction that the ocean currents send them.

Answer 4

The jet stream, a high speed 'river of air' around 30,000 feet travels west to east across the US.  Storms and showers are weathers systems with relatively low mass, and are easily pushed around by the jet stream, and so 'flow downstream' to the east.  Hurricanes, on the other hand, are heavy, high inertia systems that have been shot, like a cannonball, out of the high energy breeding grounds of the carribean.  They do slow, eventually, as they move east and are subjected to the relentless onslaught of the jet stream, and this is why hurricanes rarely strike idaho or oregon--they don't have enough velocity to make it that far.