Buys Ballot Law is a useful law in establishing safe course in case of a weather

disturbance as well as a reliable tool to predict weather system disturbances such as

storms.

If an observer in the Northern Hemisphere faces the surface wind, the center of low
pressure is toward his right, somewhat behind him; and center of high pressure is
toward his left and somewhat in front of him.
If an observer in the Southern Hemisphere faces the surface wind, the center of low
pressure is toward his left, somewhat behind him; and the center of high pressure is
toward his right and somewhat in front of him.
Buys Ballots Law: Origin
The law was first deduced by American meteorologists J.H Coffin and William
Ferrel. This was then known as Ferrels Law.
On November 1857, Christophorus Henricus Diedericus Buys Ballot (October 10,
1817 February 10, 1890) published Comptes Rendus containing empirical validation
of Ferrels initial theory in 1856 known as the Buys Ballots Law.
The Buys Ballots Law first appeared in early version of Nathaniel Bowditchs
American Practical Navigator (1900) and other publications to assist in passage
planning and safe conduct of ships at sea.

Application of Buys Ballots Law

The general purpose of the law is to assist steering a vessel away from the
center and the right, in the Northern Hemisphere, or left, in the Southern Hemisphere,
quadrants of hurricanes or any other rotating disturbance at sea.
Other use is to help establish the probability of the existence of a storm and the
best course to steer to avoid the worst of it.
Observed in purpose of the law
The following are observed in establishing weather predictions to be conformed
with the law:
1. Visible cloud formation
2. Wind direction and speed (wind vane and anemometer)
3. Atmospheric pressure (barometer)
4. Other systems
Buys Ballot on Storm formation
How do storms form?
The factors that contributes to the formation of the storm includes:
1. Water temperature (at least 26.5 C
or 79.7 F with the depth of at least 50m or 160ft.)
2. Rapid cooling with height (allowing the release of heat of condensation empowering
the cyclone)
3. High humidity
4. Low amounts of wind-shear.
5. Must be at least 555km (345mi) or 5 degrees away from the equator (to allow Coriolis
Effect and deflect winds blowing towards the low pressure)
6. A pre-existing weather disturbance.
Location of a storm
The location of most storm formation is in between 10 and 30 degrees away from the
equator. Because Coriolis Effect initiates and maintains cyclone rotation, cyclones,
rarely forms within 5 degrees of the equator.

Strength of the storm

Hurricanes intensify when moving over areas of increased water temperatures,
and weaken over colder water surfaces. Upper atmosphere wind shear (different wind
direction and speeds at different elevations) will frequently prevent or slow
intensification of tropical storms by "spreading out" the storm horizontally and
preventing the formation of strong updrafts of warm, humid air. Movement over a landmass will weaken hurricane winds but will result in large-scale rain that can result in
large-scale flooding. When encountering a strong frontal system (such as a polar front)
the hurricane will curve and track along the leading edge of the front or become
implanted in it.