Anticyclones - Structure

Structure

In the absence of rotation, the wind tends to blow from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure. The stronger the pressure difference, or pressure gradient, between a high-pressure system and a low pressure system, the stronger the wind. The coriolis force caused by the Earth's rotation is what gives winds within high-pressure systems their clockwise circulation in the northern hemisphere (as the wind moves outward and is deflected right from the center of high pressure) and anticlockwise circulation in the southern hemisphere (as the wind moves outward and is deflected left from the center of high pressure). Friction with land slows down the wind flowing out of high-pressure systems and causes wind to flow more outward, or flowing more ageostrophically, from their centers.