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storm track The horizontal component of the path followed or expected to be followed by a storm center — in other words, the path a storm follows across the globe. In the middle latitudes, the storms are extratropical cyclones which move to the east from either the NW, W or SW. This track on earth follows the flow of the winds aloft, schematically illustrated in G218. The flow is outlined by the distribution of the height contours of the 500-mb map. More specifically, a good guideline is to assume the storm track will run parallel to the 5640 meter contour, some 300 to 600 miles north of it. This contour is drawn in bold on NMC maps of the winds aloft (G401). See discussion in RES-1 on map reading. In the Tropics, the storms are tropical cyclones which tend westward and then curve poleward as illustrated in G194. See related discussion under blocking High.

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