Where are the principal jetstreams in the atmosphere, and what are their characteristics?
A. 1. The Polar Front Jet: As its name implies, this jet stream is associated with the marked discontinuity found at the boundary of well defined air masses – polar to the north/sub tropical to the south (in the northern hemisphere), conventionally found at the polar front. It meanders markedly in response to global/regional scale atmospheric changes but has a latitudinal ‘home’ roughly from 45 to 65 deg N/S. Its altitude is somewhere between 28000 ft to 34000 ft (8.5 – 10.5 km), with its own distinctive tropopause level. Speeds are of the order 80-130 knots (40-65 m/s), but may be as high as 180 knots (90 m/s), and downstream of main continental land masses in late winter/early spring, in excess of 200 knots (100 m/s). Although it is regarded as a ‘single’ ribbon of strength encircling the hemispheres, in reality the jet is broken and in developmental situations, can become very distorted with new jets re-forming at different levels from the ‘main’ baroclinic jet. 2. The Sub Tropical
A. 1. The Polar Front Jet: As its name implies, this jet stream is associated with the marked discontinuity found at the boundary of well defined air masses – polar to the north/sub tropical to the south (in the northern hemisphere), conventionally found at the polar front. It meanders markedly in response to global/regional scale atmospheric changes but has a latitudinal ‘home’ roughly from 45 to 65 deg N/S. Its altitude is somewhere between 28000 ft to 34000 ft (8.5 – 10.5 km), with its own distinctive tropopause level. Speeds are of the order 80-130 knots (40-65 m/s), but may be as high as 180 knots (90 m/s), and downstream of main continental land masses in late winter/early spring, in excess of 200 knots (100 m/s). Although it is regarded as a ‘single’ ribbon of strength encircling the hemispheres, in reality the jet is broken and in developmental situations, can become very distorted with new jets re-forming at different levels from the ‘main’ baroclinic jet. 2. The Sub Tropical
