Which statement about an anticyclone is true?

• A. It is centered on a low-pressure system.
• B. It moves from west to east.
• C. It is associated with stormy, unsettled weather.
• D. It is centered on a high-pressure system.

Answer: (D)

An anticyclone is a region of high atmospheric pressure where the air sinks. This descending air suppresses cloud formation, so the weather tends to be clear and more settled, with lighter winds. On weather charts, highs are marked with H, and in the Northern Hemisphere the flow around a high is clockwise with surface winds diverging outward.

So, the statement that an anticyclone is centered on a high-pressure system is the correct one. The others mix up the nature of anticyclones: a cyclone is the low-pressure counterpart, not high; the west-to-east path isn’t a defining feature of anticyclones, and they are typically associated with fair weather rather than stormy, unsettled conditions.