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We are conditioned to see the winds from the ground, the rotating coordinate system. Suppose you are standing near Podunk Hollow Airport and feel the Southwesterly wind blowing at 15 miles per hour.

>Podunk Hollow airport map

In an hour the wind you felt should be blowing near a camp on the southeastern shore of Lake Podunk, 15 miles away. If you were to view the same situation from outer space, the image would look like this schematic diagram.

See sentence above

That's the concept and the need to apply the Coriolis Force to the winds. There are a number of ways to proceed:

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Last Updated: March 26, 2004 March 26, 2004!--#include virtual="/om/includes/closingtags.inc" -->