07/12/2019
There is an interesting article in the March 2019 Scientific American written by Michael Mann from Penn State University that explains why we are seeing extremes in temperatures, severe weather, droughts, wildfires and the like that persist for long periods. He reasons that changes in global temperature patterns are causing the jet stream to develop large standing Rossby waves, areas of high and low pressure, that remain relatively stationary (see image). These waves tend to remain in place and migrate west to east (in the Northern Hemisphere) very slowly. Temperatures increase beneath the ridges (high pressure) and storms track along the troughs (low pressure). We have certainly seen this pattern this summer here in the great Pacific Northwest! Would you like to see if we can capture some great imagery like this and add it to our products?
