What is a jet stream?
Jet streams generally move from west to east but can meander like a river. The winds can move up to 200 mph and can be thousands of miles in length and a few miles thick. The strongest wind speeds are found in the core of a jet stream. Over the United States, we often find the Polar Front Jet Stream. This jet stream is found where cold air masses from the polar regions meet with warmer air masses that originate over the subtropical regions. The Polar Front Jet is associated with winter storms. Tracking the movement of this jet stream is one way to track winter storms. The characteristics of jet streams were defined near the end of World War II. Fighter planes and bombers sometimes encountered strong headwinds when they flew from east to west. This head wind sometimes made them feel like they weren’t moving at all. When they moved to a lower altitude, the head wind decreased and they were on their way. The jet stream is still important in aviation today. Flying in the jet stream as a ta
