Long-term average · Long-term monthly average, 1991–2020 (NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis)
Winds through the year
Slide through the months to see the average wind for each one. Some winds stay steady all year, like the trade winds; others reverse with the seasons, like the monsoon that brings Taiwan its wet summer.
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The monsoon
In summer the land heats up much faster than the sea. Air rises over the hot land and moist air from the ocean flows in to replace it, bringing heavy rain: the summer monsoon. In winter the land becomes colder than the sea and the flow reverses. Over Taiwan the winter wind blows from the north-east and the summer wind from the south-west.
The belts move with the Sun
As the Sun's strongest heating moves north in June and south in December, the whole pattern of wind belts shifts with it, especially over the large continents of Asia and Africa. Watch the rain belt near the equator move north in July and south in January.
Average is not today
These are averages over 30 years. On any single day the wind can be very different; turn Seasons off to see today's wind.
Did you know?
The word monsoon comes from the Arabic mawsim, meaning season; sailors trading across the Indian Ocean timed their voyages to the reversing winds for centuries.