Knowra Jet stream Jet stream A narrow band of fast-moving winds in the upper atmosphere, usually near the tropopause. Its shifting path steers weather systems and affects aircraft routes.
Tropopause : The boundary between the troposphere and stratosphere, marked by a change in atmospheric temperature structure. Jet streams commonly flow near this boundary, where vertical temperature contrasts help concentrate strong winds.
Atmospheric circulation : The large-scale movement of air around Earth, driven by unequal heating and modified by rotation. Jet streams are narrow features embedded within this global circulation.
Numerical weather prediction : Forecasting future atmospheric conditions by solving mathematical equations on a computer. Forecast models track jet-stream structure to predict storm paths and rapid weather changes.
Polar-front jet : A jet stream in the midlatitudes associated with the boundary between polar and warmer air. It is the jet most directly tied to the shifting polar front and midlatitude storms.
Blocking (meteorology) : A persistent disruption of the usual west-to-east flow that can stall weather systems for days or weeks. Blocking can divert or split the jet stream, prolonging particular weather patterns.
Thermal wind : The change of geostrophic wind with height, related to horizontal temperature gradients in a rotating atmosphere. It links the strong horizontal temperature contrasts to increasing wind speeds aloft.
Hadley cell : A tropical circulation cell in which air rises near the equator, flows poleward aloft, and sinks in the subtropics. Its poleward upper-level flow contributes to the subtropical jet.
Airline route planning : The selection of aircraft paths to balance travel time, fuel use, safety, and operational constraints. Flights can use or avoid jet-stream winds to alter travel time and fuel consumption.
Subtropical jet : A jet stream near the subtropics, associated with the poleward upper branch of tropical circulation. Unlike the polar-front jet, it forms mainly through tropical-to-subtropical circulation.
North Atlantic Oscillation : A fluctuation in atmospheric pressure between the subtropical Atlantic and the Arctic that affects North Atlantic circulation. Its phases shift the Atlantic jet and alter storm paths across Europe and eastern North America.
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