The North Pacific Current (sometimes referred to as the North Pacific Drift) is a slow warm water current that flows west-to-east between 40

40th parallel north

The 40th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 40 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean....

 and 50 degrees north

50th parallel north

The 50th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 50 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean....

 in the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

. The current forms the southern part of the North Pacific Subpolar Gyre. The North Pacific Current is formed by the collision of the Kuroshio Current

Kuroshio Current

The Kuroshio is a north-flowing ocean current on the west side of the North Pacific Ocean. It is similar to the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic and is part of the North Pacific ocean gyre...

, running northward off the coast of Japan, and the Oyashio Current

Oyashio Current

, also known as Oya Siwo, Okhotsk or the Kurile current, is a cold subarctic ocean current that flows south and circulates counterclockwise in the western North Pacific Ocean. It collides with the Kuroshio Current off the eastern shore of Japan to form the North Pacific Current...

, which is a cold subarctic current that flows south and circulates counterclockwise along the western North Pacific Ocean. The North Pacific Current forms the northern part of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. In the eastern North Pacific, it splits into the southward California Current

California Current

The California Current is a Pacific Ocean current that moves south along the western coast of North America, beginning off southern British Columbia, and ending off southern Baja California. There are five major coastal currents affiliated with upwelling zones...

 and the northward Alaska Current

Alaska Current

The Alaska Current is a southwestern warm-water current along the coast of British Columbia and the Alaska Panhandle. The current results from the northward diversion of a portion of the North Pacific Current when that current meets the west coast of the North American continent. It forms a part...

.

External links

• Quick Bulletin of Ocean Conditions around Japan