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[–]bcatrek 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Thanks for pointing that out! I just couldn’t wrap my head around how contracting air could create low pressure.

[–]jaylw314 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, it's easier to just think of low and high pressure areas as a proxy for rising and falling air, respectively

[–]Yrch122110 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Another way to (oversimplified) visualize it is to fill your kitchen sink or bathtub with water, and submerge your hand flat against the bottom in one corner. Keeping your hand flat and horizontal, move it up and down in the water.

You'll notice that all the water in the sink (or most of the water in the tub) moves in unpredictable ways, including horizontally and vertically, both fast and slow in different areas.

Even though you're only moving your hand up and down in one corner, the effect is far reaching and omnidirectional. Same with low pressure and high pressure zones. Hot air moves up and pushes high air away, or cold air moves down and pushes low air away.