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Anticyclone
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Giant vortices in Jupiter's southern hemisphere, imaged by the Galileo spacecraft on May 7, 1997. The oval on the left is a cyclonic storm system, rotating in a clockwise direction. The oval on the right is an anticyclone, with a counterclockwise rotation. Diagram of the United States showing wind rotation patterns in a cyclone and an anticyclone. On the left, arrows circle counterclockwise around a low-pressure center labeled Low to illustrate a cyclone. On the right, arrows circle clockwise around a high-pressure center labeled High to illustrate an anticyclone. The map visually contrasts the opposite wind directions in these two weather systems.
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Anticyclone

meteorology
Also known as: high
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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Anticyclone, any large wind system that rotates about a centre of high atmospheric pressure clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern. Its flow is the reverse of that of a cyclone (q.v.).

This article was most recently revised and updated by John P. Rafferty.