Im confused

[Peters Wet]

So its approaching winter here in Nova Scotia, We are expecting a Nor' Easter to bring some precipitation, Now Ive been told that the stated wind direction indicates where the wind / storm is coming from but the news cast shows the weather system moving up from the US eastern Seaboard in a north east direction. So the prevailing wind would be South west would it not?

[Lodesman]

The wind doesn't push the system. Winds go counter-clockwise around a low pressure system (in the N hemisphere), so as the low approaches you from the south, you'll first experience NE winds. As it passes by, presumably off-shore, the winds will veer to N, then NW, W and peter out SWly.

[Sandero]

The wind direction depends on where the high and low pressure is/are and the wind moves in that direction typically... from high toward low. Around a deep low... you can think of it like a drain and the winds spiral around the drain... the drain can be moving in any direction and this changes the wind speed of the "vortex" depending on which quadrant you are on.

It gets more complicated because the earth spin impacts the air.

So you could have a low moving up the coast in an NE direction with winds on the west side of it flowing sw!

[Delancey]

I recommend the Earth Wind Map with the Mean Sea Level Pressure overlay to aid in your understanding.

earth :: an animated map of global wind, weather, and ocean conditions

[Peters Wet]

Thanks fellas, that clarifies things a bit

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