Weather
Weather WisdomWeather Wisdom - Friday, August 14, 2009By Craig Koplien (WTMJ)
Last week in this space I wrote that flooding rains are common this time of the year because storms tend to be slow-movers. In fact, our entire weather pattern can be quite slow to change this time of year. Not only can August thunderstorms be sluggish when moving across Wisconsin, large-scale weather patterns affecting much of the nation are also slow to change. The nice weather pattern we find ourselves in right now is a perfect example.
The speed at which our weather conditions change in Wisconsin can be attributed to the winds high up in the sky. Those winds are responsible for pushing around the weather systems that affect us down here where we live. When these winds are light, weather systems don’t come and go very quickly, so we don’t experience dramatic changes. On the other hand, when very strong winds are present high in the sky, weather systems affect us more frequently. These strongest winds are called the jet stream. While the position of the jet stream is constantly fluctuating, it main position during the summer is near the U.S.-Canadian border, often too far north to greatly impact us. |
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