of wind; from the west lying in or toward the west from the west; "the wind blew westerly" toward the west; "we began to steer away westerly"- Daniel Defoe
Usually applied to the broad patterns of persistent winds with a westerly component It is the dominant persistent atmospheric motion, centered over the midlatitudes of each hemisphere Near the earth's surface, the westerlies extend from approximately 35 to 65 degrees latitude, while in the upper levels they extend further polarward and equatorward