The Pacific Ocean is our largest ocean on earth and it has wildly different weather across it, from Antarctic blasts to Tropical Cyclones, Typhoons and drought bearing high pressure zones. Which is why this image today (wind and air pressure map taken from earth.nullschool.net) is so unusal.

It’s almost as if the equator is acting like a mirror – reflecting the weather pattern from Northern Hemisphere to Southern Hemisphere and vice versa.

“While it is common to see a series of lows in a row it’s not often that you see the same line like this at either end of the Pacific Ocean weather region” says WeatherWatch.co.nz head forecaster Philip Duncan. “The South Pacific has very little land through it to disrupt the weather, so low pressure zone after the other is quite normal, but the North Pacific has more land interference and lows and storms usually have a messier look to them. But this almost looks like a reflection”.

What makes this image even more remarkable is how evenly spread the lows in the north and south both are – and their distance from the equator. Also, how “flat” the air pressure is across such a large portion of the Pacific Ocean out from the equator.

One clue for this? The time of year. Whilst the line up of the lows is a random co-incidence, the October and November weather pattern can bring similar weather to both Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere. We often see equal temperatures, equal highs and lows…and today a wind and air pressure map that also appears equal.

🌏🌎Pretty rare sight to see the #PacificOcean weather systems almost mirroring themselves from the North Pacific to the South Pacific.🪞

These6⃣Low pressure zones🌀are almost directly north to south of each other and are located in both #Spring & #Autumn. pic.twitter.com/FiuMB73ecb

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) November 17, 2022