Horse Latitudes

Two belts of ocean calm at 30° N and S of the Equator, where conditions of high atmospheric pressure exist almost permanently; Trade Winds constantly blow from these belts towards the Doldrums.

Horse latitudes or Subtropical High are subtropical latitudes between 30 and 35 degrees both north and south, characterized by light winds and hot, dry weather, caused by descending air. The belt in the Northern Hemisphere is sometimes called the “calms of Cancer” and in the Southern Hemisphere it is called the “calms of Capricorn”.

The warm, dry conditions of the horse latitudes also relate to the existence of temperate deserts, such as the Sahara Desert in Africa, the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, and parts of the Middle East in the Northern Hemisphere, and the Chilean-Argentinian-Peruvian desert, the Kalahari Desert, and the Australian Desert in the Southern Hemisphere.