Bob Jones, age 12, of Gary, Ind

Why does the weather come from the west?

Most of our land lies within the belt of the westerly winds. These prevailing winds sweep around the globe from the west day and night. If nothing happened to disrupt them, our winds always Would blow from California to New England. But local weather conditions build up here and there, caused by differences in warm and cool areas, land and sea. Spiraling cyclones, maybe hundreds of miles wide, often form on the Rockies.

The world‑wide prevailing winds tend to engulf these local weather conditions and sweep them along. Chances are, the westerlies will nudge a cyclone from the Rockies to the Atlantic. Most, but not all, of our changeable weather is carried overhead by the prevailing westerlies.