Jet stream

Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow, meandering air currents found in the atmosphere of some planets, including Earth. On Earth, the main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds (flowing west to east). Their paths typically have a meandering shape. Jet streams may start, stop, split into two or more parts, combine into one stream, or flow in various directions including opposite to the direction of the remainder of the jet.

The strongest jet streams are the polar jets, at 9–12 km (30,000–39,000 ft) above sea level, and the higher altitude and somewhat weaker subtropical jets at 10–16 km (33,000–52,000 ft). The Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere each have a polar jet and a subtropical jet. The northern hemisphere polar jet flows over the middle to northern latitudes of North America, Europe, and Asia and their intervening oceans, while the southern hemisphere polar jet mostly circles Antarctica all year round.

Jet streams are the product of two factors:

The Polar jet stream forms near the interface of the Polar and Ferrel circulation cells; while the subtropical jet forms near the boundary of the Ferrel and Hadley circulation cells.

Other jet streams also exist. During the Northern Hemisphere summer, easterly jets can form in tropical regions, typically where dry air encounters more humid air at high altitudes. Low-level jets also are typical of various regions such as the central United States. Meteorologists use the location of some of the jet streams as an aid in weather forecasting. The main commercial relevance of the jet streams is in air travel, as flight time can be dramatically affected by either flying with the flow or against. Clear-air turbulence, a potential hazard to aircraft passenger safety, is often found in a jet stream's vicinity, but it does not create a substantial alteration on flight times.


Northern hemisphere

Southern hemisphere


North america

North atlantic

Pacific


Data source: GFS, California Regional Weather Server, Wikipedia


Language



Icons


Temperature

Humidity

Pressure

Wind speed

Wind gust

Precipitation

Solar radiation

Snow

Feels like

Dew point

UV

Visibility

Cloud base

Evapotranspiration

Indoor temperature

Indoor humidity


Sunrise

Sunset

Moon rise

Moon set

Time

Menu

From

To

Fullscreen

Export as image

Settings

Homepage

Webcam

Table

Graph

Map

Steady

Rising

Falling

Warning

Latitude

Longitude

History

Solar eclipse

Lunar eclipse

GPS

Elevation

Day

Month

Year

High temperature

Low temperature

Day

Night

Spring

Summer

Fall

Winter