Thanks Clark... it makes sense now. For some strange reason, I thought the highs and lows would extend up through the troposphere. I know better than this, as the outflow from a low would have to affect the layers above, as if the air went to the center of a low, without having an outflow, then the low would die. I guess the same is true with a high... if the winds continued to blow outward without replacement, the high would go away. So, the different altitudes cannot be all uniform. Sometimes, my mouth (or, in this case, my hands) think without consulting with my brain!

One more question for you.... a lot of these people that have meteorologist after their name, but spend their time doing field reporting.... are they real meteorologists? My thought is perhaps some Universities have 'broadcast meteorology' programs, where you take mostly communications courses and a couple met classes and voila, you are a BA level meterorologist. I am not trying to insult anyone here, just many of the people I have seen on TV have disappointed me with their technical abilities, as they mostly just repeated someone else's forecasts. Then look at 'chief meteorologists' or NWS forecasters that do actual forecasting. I'm guessing have a more science-based met degree (B.S., M.S., or Ph.D.) and therefore, know what's going on. The short version of my question is do all meteorologists (those in-the-field or at-the-desk for TWC versus those that actually forecast) follow the same educational pathway?