Re: what are the four major wind belts

The Major Windbelts

Around the equator there is an area with not very much wind called the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Moving towards this area from the north-east and south-east are the trade winds that tend to have a fairly consistent speed and direction.

Further to the north and the south beyond 40 degrees latitude you find the westerlies(which come from the West) and these winds are associated with weather disturbance. Now I see you are from Michigan, so you ought to know all about that.

Even further to the North at about 60 degrees latitude (South Alaska is at this latitude) you get the polar easterlies. These winds can flow in a south or north easterly direction and if they push down as far as Michigan then the weather will turn bitterly cold.

Please note that meteorologists prefer to describe where the wind is coming from. Easterly winds come from the east and go westwards.