Storm motion -- question about steering

[Recurve]

Is it true that whenever a Tcyclone is moving east to west, it's riding the trades or clockwise flow around a high/surface ridge to the north, while a storm moving west to east (recurving, drifting, whatever) is being steered by a trough? Is that too simplistic?

If that's basically right, are there characteristics that are expected from the two directions -- storms can strengthen being steered by a high, but are generally weakening/getting increasing shear if getting steered by a trough?

I grasp basically that a strong high keeps a TC heading generally westward and prevents northward movement (Andrew in Florida), while strong troughs / fronts kick storms on a northeast recurve. Charley got kicked northeast by a cold front, does that mean a trough hanging off a low to the northeast? Or is a cold front a third beast as far as steering setups?

I'm always trying to understand steering more, as an amateur in a place exposed to both west-moving and recurving storms.

[mikey]

Good summary. Charley got kicked by a rare cold front that came down in August.

[Berwick Bay]

Is it true that whenever a Tcyclone is moving east to west, it's riding the trades or clockwise flow around a high/surface ridge to the north, while a storm moving west to east (recurving, drifting, whatever) is being steered by a trough? Is that too simplistic?

You're correct about the East - West movement in the tropics (lower latitudes). The general reason for the opposite West - East movement is due to the direction of upper air currents in temperate latitudes. Basically all "weather" here moves from West to East. Think about your frontal systems during the winter, moving west to east (driven by upper air currents in the temperate latitudes). But in the tropics the prevailing flow is east to west. The key is the transition or recurve as the storm transitions out of the deep tropics and into more temperate latitudes. This is another reason why "Gulf Storms" are my favorite. The Gulf of Mexico is basically a sub-tropical waterway. It lies right in that transition area where storm moving E to W begin to feel the upper level winds from latitudes further north (temperate lats) and begin to be pushed in the opposite direction W to E. Its wonderful and unpredictable, because the least variance in the situation at that given time will effect the exact moment of recurving. Some Gulf Storms never recurve (continue E to W.) Others begin their recurve and shift to N in the Gulf. Still others complete their recurve and shift to NE while in the Gulf. This makes Gulf Storms the most unpredictable in the Atlantic Basin. A totally different creature.