Why are wind directions named for the direction they come from and not the direction they blow?

Baloo55th

To my surprise, the Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_direction doesn't say. I would think that it's because it's easier to work it out. Wet the back of your hand and hold it up. There's one direction where it feels cold, and the all the rest of the circle where it doesn't. Feb 01 13, 4:31 PM

looney_tunes

Early people who noticed the different qualities associated with winds blowing in different directions would have noticed that the wind quality depended on where it was coming from - a wind blowing from polar regions would be colder, for example, than one with tropical origins. The source of the wind became a logical way of giving it a name. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_compass_winds#Origins Feb 01 13, 5:45 PM