Wind direction in Moscow

Abstract

Discussed are the data on wind direction in the air layer from 40 to 500 m over Moscow for the period of 2004–2014. The data was obtained with the MODOS sodar installed in Lomonosov Moscow State University. It is demonstrated that this wind direction has a stable southwestern mode in ten years on average. The western component of this mode strengthens in spring and summer (the south-southwestern direction is registered more rarely, and the west-southwestern one, more frequently). The winds of northern and eastern directions are observed much more rarely than those of southern and western directions. The rarest wind direction over Moscow is the north-northeastern one. However, under conditions of the anticyclonic weather (in the zone of blocking anticyclones in summer or the Siberian high in winter), the prevailing wind direction can have the eastern component even during several weeks on average. The northern wind is most often registered in summer, and the eastern wind, in spring. The average right wind shear in the air layer of 40–500 m is 20°. The surface air layer with the quasiconstant wind direction is not more than 40 m high in two of three cases per month on average; its height reaches 60 or 80 m in several months.