Anticyclones play much less important a role in the weather-drama at the surface of the earth in comparison with cyclones. Since anticyclones produce clear conditions and are almost weather-less, no serious study has been conducted on their development.
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There is a common feeling that anticyclones are always associated with fine weather. But this is not always the case. There are certain conditions when cumuliform clouds form within an anticyclone which produce abundant rainfall or snowfall.
Sometimes, when anticyclones remain over a region for a number of days and become stagnant, they assume greater importance to man as he tries to tackle the problem of air pollution.
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Large anticyclones quite often block the eastward moving cyclones. The middle-latitude anticyclones on several occasions bring severe cold waves which are considered to be a serious climatic hazard to various human and economic activities.
The term ‘anticyclone’ was used for the first time by Sir Francis Galton in 1861. It denotes an atmospheric system that is just the opposite of the cyclonic system. In the context of general circulation, the anticyclones are considered to be the ‘centers of action’.
In all the latitudes, the location and the energy of anticyclones form one of the most important factors in weather forecasting.
However, all the important anticyclones are found over the oceans in the vicinity of 30° north and south latitudes in the form of semi-permanent high pressure cells.
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But the cold-core and warm-core migratory anticyclones have their origins in different regions situated farther apart.