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Name: Angie
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Question:
How fast do high and low pressure systems move?

Replies:
Angie,

The speed at which high and low pressure systems move across the face of the Earth is highly variable and is mostly determined by the speed of the wind near the top of those systems (the Tropopause). This is the level at which the jet stream can form.

If there is a jet stream and it is particularly strong, it can drag weather systems at fairly high speeds, up to no more than about 50 miles per hour perhaps.

David R. Cook
Meteorologist
Climate Research Section
Environmental Science Division
Argonne National Laboratory

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