gradient wind

(meteorology) A wind for which Coriolis acceleration and the centripetal acceleration exactly balance the horizontal pressure force.

A hypothetical wind based upon the assumption that the sum of the horizontal components of the Coriolis force and the atmospheric pressure gradient force per unit mass is equivalent to a wind acceleration which is normal to the direction of the wind itself (centripetal acceleration), with the implication that there are no viscous forces acting. The direction of the gradient wind is the same as that of the geostrophic wind. The gradient wind speed is less than the geostrophic speed when the air moves in a cyclonically curved path and greater when the air moves in an anticyclonically curved path. The gradient wind is a good approximation of the actual wind and is often superior to the geostrophic wind, particularly when the flow is strongly curved in the cyclonic sense. See also Coriolis acceleration; Geostrophic wind.