Why Weather Happens

Weather is fundamentally about air pressure differences. The Sun heats Earth's surface unevenly — land warms faster than ocean, the equator more than the poles. Hot air rises, creating low-pressure zones; cool air sinks, creating high-pressure zones.

Air flows from high to low pressure, and that flow is wind. The bigger the difference, the stronger the wind.

Hurricanes form around extremely low-pressure centers, with air spiraling inward and upward at ferocious speeds, fueled by warm ocean water. The Coriolis effect from Earth's rotation bends those winds into a spiral, spinning counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.