Why No South Atlantic ITCZ

[NONAME]

Can any one tell me why the South Atlantic and I think the south eastern pacific have no ITCZ.

[WindRunner]

There is only one ITCZ in the world, and it connects in between basins (i.e. the ITCZ in the Atlantic is the same one in the Pacific is the same one in the IO). The ITCZ just moves north and south of the equator dependent on season. For the Atlantic, it will be in the hemisphere where it is summer. Therefore, the ITCZ that we see in the North Atlantic during hurricane season is the same one that is south of the equator in the South Atlantic during our winter months.

[WindRunner]

A map of the variations in the location of the ITCZ:

Note that that is not two different ITCZs, but the location of it in July and January, with July being the more northern position.

[NONAME]

Therefore, the ITCZ that we see in the North Atlantic during hurricane season is the same one that is south of the equator in the South Atlantic during our winter months.

One thing that I do know for sure is that the ITCZ does not make it South of the equator in the south Atlantic and when it does it only go to like 2-3 south and that is closest to the Brazil Coastline. During the winter months it is usually around at it lowest around 5N near Africa and 2s near South America.

[NONAME]

That Map is Really Awesome but as you can tell it doesnt go very far in the south atlantic. But do why doesnt it swings up in africa then go to the atlantic around the equator then goes down once it hits South America and then is back up when it hits the pacific. There has to be a reason for it.

[WindRunner]

It doesn't ever make it that far into the South Atlantic, but it does generally shift southward to about the location you described. It's far enough south to not allow convection to gain any kind of spin, and therefore (along with other things) shuts down the North Atlantic for the winter and first half of spring.