<P> There are regular patterns of prevailing winds found in bands round the Earth's equatorial region . The zone designated the trade winds is the zone between about 30 ° N and 30 ° S, blowing predominantly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere . The westerlies are the prevailing winds in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude, blowing predominantly from the southwest in the Northern Hemisphere and from the northwest in the Southern Hemisphere . The strongest westerly winds in the middle latitudes can come in the Roaring Forties between 30 and 50 degrees latitude . </P> <P> Examples of notable rain shadowing include: </P> <Ul> <Li> The peaks of the Caucasus Mountains to the west and Hindukush and Pamir to the east rain shadow the Karakum and Kyzyl Kum deserts east of the Caspian Sea, as well as the semi-arid Kazakh Steppe . </Li> <Li> The Dasht - i - Lut in Iran is in the rain shadow of the Elburz and Zagros Mountains and is one of the most lifeless areas on Earth . </Li> <Li> The Himalaya and connecting ranges also contribute to arid conditions in Central Asia including Mongolia's Gobi desert, as well as the semi-arid steppes of Mongolia and north - central to north western China . </Li> <Li> The Ordos Desert is rain shadowed by mountain chains including the Kara - naryn - ula, the Sheitenula, and the Yin Mountains, which link on to the south end of the Great Khingan Mountains . </Li> <Li> The Thar desert is bounded and rain shadowed by the Aravalli ranges to the south - east, the Himalaya to the northeast, and the Kirthar and Sulaiman ranges to the west . </Li> <Li> Eastern Side of Sahyadri ranges on Deccan e.g. Northern Karnataka & Solapur, Beed, Osmanabad, Vidharba Plateau and eastern side of Kerala (in Tamil Nadu) India . </Li> <Li> The central region of Myanmar is in the rain shadow of the Arakan Mountains and is almost semi-arid with only 750 millimetres (30 in) of rain as against as much as 5.5 metres (220 in) on the Rakhine State coast . </Li> <Li> The Tokyo, Japan plain ("Kanto plain") in the winter months experiences significantly less precipitation than the rest of the country by virtue of surrounding mountain ranges, including the "Japan Alps", blocking prevailing northwesterly winds originating in Siberia . </Li> </Ul> <Li> The peaks of the Caucasus Mountains to the west and Hindukush and Pamir to the east rain shadow the Karakum and Kyzyl Kum deserts east of the Caspian Sea, as well as the semi-arid Kazakh Steppe . </Li>

The rain shadow generally is located on the leeward side of mountain ranges