<P> A high - pressure area, high or anticyclone is a region where the atmospheric pressure at the surface of the planet is greater than its surrounding environment . </P> <P> Winds within high - pressure areas flow outward from the higher pressure areas near their centers towards the lower pressure areas further from their centers . Gravity adds to the forces causing this general movement, because the higher pressure compresses the column of air near the center of the area into greater density--and so greater weight compared to lower pressure, lower density, and lower weight of the air outside the center . </P> <P> However, because the planet is rotating underneath the atmosphere, and frictional forces arise as the planetary surface drags some atmosphere with it, the air flow from center to periphery is not direct, but is twisted due to the Coriolis effect, or the merely apparent force that arise when the observer is in a rotating frame of reference . Viewed from above this twist in wind direction is in the same direction as the rotation of the planet . </P>

The general surface wind circulation associated with the high-pressure center (h) is most likely