Global and Local Winds in Costa Rica

Costa Rica is located in Central America and lies between 9.9333° N latitude and 84.0833° W longitude. It is located in the northern hemisphere. Of the three atmospheric cells: Polar, Ferrel and Hadley, Costa Rica resides in the Haley cell. Costa Rica is located in the wind belt of the tropical easterlies. The wind direction blows northeasterly. Costa Rica isn't located near any "special" areas such as the doldrums, horse latitudes, or the polar front. It is located above the doldrums at 0 degrees latitude and below the horse latitudes located at 30 degrees latitude. 

http://home.comcast.net/~rhaberlin/pwpptnts.htm

 

http://www.geogonline.org.uk/g3a_ki1.4.htm

 

Costa Rica is located in the Hadley cell. In the Hadley cell, the atmospheric circulation in the tropics produce tropical easterlies and trade winds. Air rises up in the atmosphere near the equator, goes upward/downward to the poles, returns back to the subtropics, and finally flows back toward the equator. Costa Rica is widely considered a tropical country and is near a subtropical high. Costa Rica's climate is divided into two major seasons: rainy and dry. The dry seasons runs from January-May and the rainy season from May-December. Since Costa Rica is located near the equator, the temperatures don't change dramatically from season to season. The average temperature year-round is around 70-81 degrees F.

 

 http://www.seas.harvard.edu/climate/eli/research/equable/hadley.html

 

 http://www.aari.ru/resources/m0001/Meteorology/HTML/PRIMER/FACTORS/winds.htm

 

There are many mountains in Costa Rica. The two largest are the Cerro Chirripo in Limon (3,842 m) and the Cerro Ventisqueros in San Jose (3,812 m). Five winds or breezes that are associated with mountains include: mountain breezes, valley breezes, Katabatic winds, Chinook winds, and Santa Ana winds. Of these 5 types of winds/breezes, Costa Rica can experience mountain breezes and valley breezes. Costa Rica has a beautiful coastline and experiences both land and sea breezes. 

 

http://miceww.com/costa-rica/osa-peninsula-coastline-in-costa-rica/