ASIATIC LOW

large atmospheric low-pressure centre that develops over southwestern Asia in summer. The region's high summer temperatures cause the equatorial low-pressure belt to shift northward and form the Asiatic low; its average sea-level pressure in July is 999 millibars (29.5 inches of mercury). The low's counterclockwise circulation and its location northwest of India produce the summer monsoon winds from the southwest over the Indian subcontinent.