What are subtropical highs?

Subtropical highs are giant, warm air piles that sit near the top of the atmosphere and help shape our weather.

Imagine you're playing with a balloon in a sunny room. The balloon gets warm and floats higher up, that's like what happens with subtropical highs. These piles of warm air form near the middle of the Earth’s oceans, usually around 30 degrees north or south. They're like big, lazy clouds that don’t move much but have a strong influence on where rain goes.

Think of subtropical highs as the boss of a weather team. When they’re in charge, they push air down to the ground, this makes it hard for rain to form. That’s why places under these high-pressure bosses often stay dry or only get light showers.

But when these warm air piles move or change, they can send waves of weather rolling across the globe, bringing storms and rain to new places.

So next time you see a long stretch of sunny days with little rain, it might be because a subtropical high is sitting quietly above you, watching over things.