By Black Headline News
Experts are at a loss with the current large-scale planetary wave pattern, some are comparing it to a Van Gogh painting. ScienceAlert reports the southern part of the jet stream over North America has completely broken apart, and although it's normal for the air currents to stop, split apart, recombine and flow in opposite directions, the current fragmentation is unlike anything specialists have seen before. (Veuer’s Maria Mercedes Galuppo has the story.)
Jet streams are bands of strong wind that generally blow from west to east all across the globe, as explained on the website, SciJinks.gov. They impact weather, air travel and many other things that take place in our atmosphere. Earth has four primary jet streams: two polar jet streams, near the north and south poles, and two subtropical jet streams closer to the equator. Jet streams form when warm air masses meet cold air masses in the atmosphere.
So, when Earth’s warmer air masses meet cooler air masses, the warmer air rises up higher in the atmosphere while cooler air sinks down to replace the warm air. This movement creates an air current, or wind. A jet stream is a type of air current that forms high in the atmosphere.
On average, jet streams move at about 110 miles per hour. The fast-moving air currents in a jet stream can transport weather systems across the United States, affecting temperature and precipitation. However, if a weather system is far away from a jet stream, it might stay in one place, causing heat waves or floods.
Such is the case of the heatwave happening right now; chief meteorologists and climate change scientist Jeff Berardelli has grave concerns regarding the current jet streams, because "the configuration, likely enhanced by climate heating, is fueling a record heat dome so extreme that even experts are astonished."
In his Twitter feed, Beradelli predicted the current continued, excessive heatwave barreling over Mexico and Texas.
"Highs 110+ degrees from Mexico to Texas. Heat Index numbers 120+… and the heat wave has been incredibly resilient, parked over Mexico for a week!! And the dome shows no signs of relenting, the core edging north into Texas this weekend-next week!"
Texas and many other states in the Midwest are expected to hit temperatures of 115+ degrees, especially over the July 4 weekend holiday. The South is also included in the heatwave, with Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana expected to experience temperatures between 105 to 110 degrees.