# Weather patterns, do they always move in a consistent direction? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 17, 2017, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370 "2017-01-17T05:06:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370/21 "2017-01-17T20:48:52Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > It’s not a weather forecast. TV Weather forecasts have shown the satellite and radar loops for several decades. I’m not sure how you missed it. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370/22 "2017-01-17T21:07:30Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > TV Weather forecasts have shown the satellite and radar loops for several decades. I’m not sure how you missed it. I’ve seen those simulations many times. They never made much impression on me. I was more interested in the actual forecast. It got real, for me when I hear the rain pounding on my roof and open the weather app. See how wide an area the storm is covering covering. Summertime, it’s not unusual to have a storm over my house. But it’s not raining 6 miles away in another part of town. The weather map is very useful than. That’s just my reaction. It’ll vary for others. I was never much of a weather nerd until I got this App. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370/23 "2017-01-17T21:08:08Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Right, but there are also remarkable consistencies over suitable time or geographic scales, and I’m surprised you didn’t mention the fact that we get clues about this from aviation. Over most of North America and Europe and the pond in between, for example, westbound flights take substantially longer than eastbound ones. NY to LA, for instance, averages around 6h 15m while LA to NY is about 5h 10m. Granted, this is jet stream behavior, but it also reflects the overall trend of west-to-east weather system movement in this broad geography. Sailors have known about this a lot longer. Sailing from North America to Europe in the temperate latitudes goes with the prevailing winds. Go down to the tropics and you can catch the trade winds to sail back to the west. The classic triangle trade took advantage of this. > [@](#): > > One sees a similar aviation phenomenon at a local level. The major international airport at Toronto is located west of the city, and there’s a good reason for that. Due to prevailing westerlies, most of the time flights take off to the west, where there is a big buffer of industrial areas, and city overflights are usually planes making their landing approach. When planes take off toward the east, it means there’s an unusual weather pattern and a fairly reliable indication that some type of weather disturbance is coming. Are you sure that’s the reason that site was selected? Most of the airports I’m aware of didn’t have anything like that level of foresight. Most of them were built when aviation was little more than a curiosity; as they became larger and busier they just had to make do with the location they had. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370/24 "2017-01-17T21:40:54Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Are you sure that’s the reason that site was selected? Most of the airports I’m aware of didn’t have anything like that level of foresight. Most of them were built when aviation was little more than a curiosity; as they became larger and busier they just had to make do with the location they had. No, I’m not sure and can’t find anything definitive in its history – there may have been a fortuitous element of luck, too. The site was selected in 1936-37, and was originally intended to be a secondary airport, with the main one on an island just off downtown on Lake Ontario. As it turned out, the island airport became the regional one, and Toronto Pearson became the big one. Had the prevailing winds been opposite to what they are, however, it would have affected vast swaths of what is now prime real estate in the north part of the city. If nothing else, its westerly location is very, very fortuitous. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370/25 "2017-01-17T22:46:32Z")
You can always count on weather following tried and true patterns. For instance, hurricanes heading towards the Gulf invariably recurve into the Atlantic, which is why Galveston was so silly for building that seawall. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370/26 "2017-01-18T00:13:58Z")
Don’t forget “Wrong Way Lenny”, the hurricane that traveled _west to east_ across the Atlantic basin. [http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/remembering-wrong-way-hurrican/1678580](http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/remembering-wrong-way-hurrican/1678580) There are also tornadoes that turn the “wrong” way ( Anticyclonic). > **[Anticyclonic tornado](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anticyclonic_tornado)** > > An anticyclonic tornado is a tornado which rotates in a clockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere and a counterclockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere. The term is a naming convention denoting the anomaly from normal rotation which is cyclonic in upwards of 98 percent of tornadoes.\[citation needed\] Many anticyclonic tornadoes are smaller and weaker than cyclonic tornadoes, forming from a different process, as either companion/satellite tornadoes or nonmesocyclonic tornadoes. > Most str... ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370/27 "2017-01-18T01:50:26Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > It’s almost as if they are following a set pattern, if only we could find a word that describes this sort of behavior. Something like weather consistency or weather predictability. Hmmm, it’s right on the tip of my tongue, a weather . . . ??? … sandwich? ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370/28 "2017-01-18T01:58:10Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > Don’t forget “Wrong Way Lenny”, the hurricane that traveled _west to east_ across the Atlantic basin. > > [http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/remembering-wrong-way-hurrican/1678580](http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/remembering-wrong-way-hurrican/1678580) … [snip] > [@](#): > > Lenny’s extended west-to-east motion across the Caribbean is unprecedented. For its first 48 h, Lenny moved on an east to east-southeastward course. This motion was induced by the flow around the southern portion of a deep-layer trough located over the western Atlantic. Several short-wave troughs helped to amplify the mean western Atlantic trough through the period, increasing the westerly steering flow. From 1200 UTC 15 November to 1800 UTC 16 November, Lenny’s mean forward speed was 14 kt toward the east. The unusual nature of this steering pattern is illustrated by an anom- aly chart of November mean 500-mb heights. This chart (not shown) shows a very large negative anomaly (minimum height of 60 m) centered a few hundred nautical miles north of Puerto Rico. > > Lawrence, Miles B. _et al_; _Atlantic Hurricane Season of 1999_; NHC; 2001 > [@Mangosteen](#): > > There are also tornadoes that turn the “wrong” way ( Anticyclonic). > > [Anticyclonic tornado - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anticyclonic_tornado) Clockwise tornadoes typically are spawned by clockwise rotating thunderstorms in the Northern Hemisphere… both these structures are small enough to be effected by local turbulence and terrain … the middle sized cyclones are almost always too big to have these local effects so they pretty much always spin counter-clockwise … although there’s nothing in the physics to say they can’t spin the other way … it’s just never been observed on Earth … I believe they’ve been spotted on Jupiter, but I can’t find a citation for that right now … ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370/29 "2017-01-18T02:35:22Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’ve seen those simulations many times. They never made much impression on me. I was more interested in the actual forecast. The satellite and radar loops aren’t simulations. They are the real weather that actually happened. (Some weather does show sims of projected weather, but these are different.) Something that does need to be said - there is a difference between the wind direction and the direction the weather is moving. It is perfectly reasonable for weather that involves a north wind to come from the west. For the most part, all **weather** does come from the west. No matter where you live. On a more localised level fronts will sweep over you with a combination of the west-to-east movement of the host low pressure and the rotation of that system. So the direction you see the front pass over you from will vary (it will be largely determined by your latitude and the time of year - as the bands of weather migrate north and south over the course of the year with the seasons. There is year to year variation of the latitude of these bands as well, controlled by the Northern and Southern Annular Modes.) As noted above there are some weather systems that buck the trend, and cyclonic storms are the big one. Other than coming from the equatorial regions, they travel a drunkards walk and are very difficult to predict. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370/30 "2017-01-18T05:29:04Z")
Jesus man what is with all the ellipses? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370/31 "2017-01-18T14:50:31Z")
Around here, usually in the fall, we sometimes get “wrong way” weather. One noticeable thing about it is the clouds are incredibly uniform and flat bottomed from horizon to horizon. Like someone put up a huge ceiling over everything. Despite the clouds there’s very little rain. Just the occasional drizzle. ---
**Author:** ![BorgHunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@BorgHunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BorgHunter)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370/32 "2017-01-18T16:09:57Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Jesus man what is with all the ellipses? That’s actually how most warnings come from the National Weather Service, actually. I think in **watchwolf49** ’s case that’s just how he writes, but in this thread, I think writing like that is actually fairly topical. Example (spoilered for brevity): [spoiler]URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 634 AM PST WED JAN 18 2017 …A WINTRY MIX OF PRECIPITATION WILL CONTINUE INTO THURSDAY… .A PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE INTERIOR NORTHWEST THROUGH THURSDAY. WARMER AIR RIDING OVER THE RESIDUAL ARCTIC AIRMASS WILL RESULT IN FREEZING RAIN…SLEET…AND HIGHER ELEVATION SNOW IN MANY AREAS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON AND NORTHEAST OREGON. ORZ049-182245- /O.CON.KPDT.BZ.W.0001.000000T0000Z-170119T2000Z/ GRANDE RONDE VALLEY- INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS…COVE…ELGIN…LA GRANDE 634 AM PST WED JAN 18 2017 …BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON PST THURSDAY… - LOCATIONS…COVE…ELGIN…LA GRANDE. - SNOW ACCUMULATIONS…1 TO 2 INCHES. - ICE ACCUMULATIONS…UP TO A QUARTER OF AN INCH. - TIMING…PRECIPITATION WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TODAY AND WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES. STRONG WINDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING. - IMPACTS…SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW WILL MAKE ROADWAYS VERY HAZARDOUS. ICE ACCUMULATIONS…PLUS THE WINDS…CAN CAUSE DOWNED TREE LIMBS AND POWER LINES. - WINDS…SOUTH 30 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH. - VISIBILITIES…ONE QUARTER MILE OR LESS AT TIMES. - WEB PAGE: FOR A DETAILED VIEW OF THE HAZARD AREA VISIT [HTTP://WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/MAP/?WFO=PDT](HTTP://WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/MAP/?WFO=PDT). PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS… A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT CONDITIONS…MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL…HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET STRANDED…STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE. && $$[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370/33 "2017-01-18T18:24:06Z")
Here in the UK weather coming from the east usually means it’s going to get cold, at this time of year, as Europe (to our east) is generally cold and the Atlantic (to our west) is relatively warm. Unfortunately, weather from the east is fairly rare (it depends on there being high pressure over Scandinavia, with the clockwise flow bringing east winds on its southern flank), so we usually end up with mild muck off the Atlantic instead. But when we do get that rare set up, you can watch the snow showers piling in from the east on the radar. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370/34 "2017-01-18T19:07:43Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’ve seen those simulations many times. They never made much impression on me. I was more interested in the actual forecast. Simulations? ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370/35 "2017-01-18T21:15:26Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > The satellite and radar loops aren’t simulations. They are the real weather that actually happened. > (Some weather does show sims of projected weather, but these are different.) > > Something that does need to be said - there is a difference between the wind direction and the direction the weather is moving. It is perfectly reasonable for weather that involves a north wind to come from the west. For the most part, all **weather** does come from the west. No matter where you live. > > On a more localised level fronts will sweep over you with a combination of the west-to-east movement of the host low pressure and the rotation of that system. So the direction you see the front pass over you from will vary (it will be largely determined by your latitude and the time of year - as the bands of weather migrate north and south over the course of the year with the seasons. There is year to year variation of the latitude of these bands as well, controlled by the Northern and Southern Annular Modes.) > > As noted above there are some weather systems that buck the trend, and cyclonic storms are the big one. Other than coming from the equatorial regions, they travel a drunkards walk and are very difficult to predict. I assume you mean tropical cyclones. They don’t originate around the equator. They can originate anywhere the conditions are favorable: warm waters, strong low pressure near the surface, weak high pressure above. Many do originate in the areas above the equator where there are conflicting air currents, but below 10 degrees they are rare to form due to wind shear. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370/36 "2017-01-19T04:26:35Z")
> [@BorgHunter](#): > > That’s actually how most warnings come from the National Weather Service, actually. I think in **watchwolf49** ’s case that’s just how he writes, but in this thread, I think writing like that is actually fairly topical. Example (spoilered for brevity): > > [spoiler]URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE > NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR > 634 AM PST WED JAN 18 2017 > > …A WINTRY MIX OF PRECIPITATION WILL CONTINUE INTO THURSDAY… > > .A PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE INTERIOR NORTHWEST > THROUGH THURSDAY. WARMER AIR RIDING OVER THE RESIDUAL ARCTIC > AIRMASS WILL RESULT IN FREEZING RAIN…SLEET…AND HIGHER > ELEVATION SNOW IN MANY AREAS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST > WASHINGTON AND NORTHEAST OREGON. > > ORZ049-182245- > /O.CON.KPDT.BZ.W.0001.000000T0000Z-170119T2000Z/ > GRANDE RONDE VALLEY- > INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS…COVE…ELGIN…LA GRANDE > 634 AM PST WED JAN 18 2017 > > …BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON PST THURSDAY… > > - LOCATIONS…COVE…ELGIN…LA GRANDE. > > - SNOW ACCUMULATIONS…1 TO 2 INCHES. > > - ICE ACCUMULATIONS…UP TO A QUARTER OF AN INCH. > > - TIMING…PRECIPITATION WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TODAY AND WILL BE > HEAVY AT TIMES. STRONG WINDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY > MORNING. > > - IMPACTS…SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW WILL MAKE ROADWAYS VERY > HAZARDOUS. ICE ACCUMULATIONS…PLUS THE WINDS…CAN CAUSE > DOWNED TREE LIMBS AND POWER LINES. > > - WINDS…SOUTH 30 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH. > > - VISIBILITIES…ONE QUARTER MILE OR LESS AT TIMES. > > - WEB PAGE: FOR A DETAILED VIEW OF THE HAZARD AREA VISIT > [HTTP://WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/MAP/?WFO=PDT](HTTP://WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/MAP/?WFO=PDT). > > PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS… > > A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE > EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS > AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT > CONDITIONS…MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF > YOU MUST TRAVEL…HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET > STRANDED…STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE. > > && > > $$[/spoiler] I believe just a few weeks ago they decided to not use all caps any more. Hmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370/37 "2017-01-19T05:29:39Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Jesus man what is with all the ellipses? I think that until recently, they formatted everything to be able to be sent over ancient teletype machines, and they had limited punctuation. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370/38 "2017-01-19T14:48:24Z")
> [@lord feldon](#): > > i think that until recently, they formatted everything to be able to be sent over ancient teletype machines, and they had limited punctuation. Five bit ascii … That only gives us thirty-two characters … Twenty-six capital letters and a couple three punctuationing marks … Still needed a character for space and line feed … Ah … Those were the days … RYRYRYRYRY ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370/39 "2017-01-19T14:57:30Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’ve seen those simulations many times. They never made much impression on me. I was more interested in the actual forecast. The parts with the colored temperature patterns and the radar imaging aren’t simulations, unless you think that any photograph or movie is a simulation. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370/40 "2017-01-19T15:20:29Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Jesus man what is with all the ellipses? Obviously, **watchwolf49** is emulating the [Herb Caen style of journalism.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herb_Caen) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weather-patterns-do-they-always-move-in-a-consistent-direction/777370.md?page=3)