<P> The ITCZ appears as a band of clouds, usually thunderstorms, that encircle the globe near the Equator . In the Northern Hemisphere, the trade winds move in a southwestward direction from the northeast, while in the Southern Hemisphere, they move northwestward from the southeast . When the ITCZ is positioned north or south of the Equator, these directions change according to the Coriolis effect imparted by Earth's rotation . For instance, when the ITCZ is situated north of the Equator, the southeast trade wind changes to a southwest wind as it crosses the Equator . The ITCZ is formed by vertical motion largely appearing as convective activity of thunderstorms driven by solar heating, which effectively draw air in; these are the trade winds . The ITCZ is effectively a tracer of the ascending branch of the Hadley cell and is wet . The dry descending branch is the horse latitudes . </P> <P> The location of the ITCZ gradually varies with the seasons . Over land, it moves back and forth across the Equator, following the Sun's zenith point at high noon . Over the oceans, where the convergence zone is better defined, the seasonal cycle is more subtle, as the convection is constrained by the distribution of ocean temperatures . Sometimes, a double ITCZ forms, with one located north and another south of the Equator, one of which is usually stronger than the other . When this occurs, a narrow ridge of high pressure forms between the two convergence zones . </P> <P> The South Pacific convergence zone (SPCZ) is a reverse - oriented, or west - northwest to east - southeast aligned, trough extending from the west Pacific warm pool southeastwards towards French Polynesia . It lies just south of the equator during the Southern Hemisphere warm season, but can be more extratropical in nature, especially east of the International Date Line . It is considered the largest and most important piece of the ITCZ, and has the least dependence upon heating from a nearby land mass during the summer than any other portion of the monsoon trough . The southern ITCZ in the southeast Pacific and southern Atlantic, known as the SITCZ, occurs during the Southern Hemisphere fall between 3 ° and 10 ° south of the equator east of the 140th meridian west longitude during cool or neutral El Niño--Southern Oscillation (ENSO) patterns . When ENSO reaches its warm phase, otherwise known as El Niño, the tongue of lowered sea surface temperatures due to upwelling off the South American continent disappears, which causes this convergence zone to vanish as well . </P> <P> Variation in the location of the intertropical convergence zone drastically affects rainfall in many equatorial nations, resulting in the wet and dry seasons of the tropics rather than the cold and warm seasons of higher latitudes . Longer term changes in the intertropical convergence zone can result in severe droughts or flooding in nearby areas . </P>

Where is the itcz (inter tropical convergence zone) located during the month of december