Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
65°N
1995-1996
L
s
H
20°N
90°W
65°N
1994-1995
H
L
s
s
20°N
90°W
Normal jet stream tracks
Pacific and polar jet streams
Persistent high and low pressures
Above-normal temperatures
Below-normal temperatures
Heavy rains and flooding
H
L
s
Storms
Figure 10.13
Jet streams, pressure distribution and climate for North America during the winters of 1995-1996
and 1994-1995.
Source: US Department of Commerce, Climate Prediction Center. NOAA. Courtesy US Department of Commerce.
low-pressure cell, which from September to
March is located about 55
this also pushes the depression tracks northward
with the result that precipitation decreases from
June to July over the northern Great Plains,
part of Idaho and eastern Oregon. Conversely,
the southwesterly anticyclonic flow that affects
Arizona in June is replaced by air from the Gulf
of California, and this causes the onset of the
W, splits into
two, with one center in the Gulf of Alaska and the
other over northern Manchuria.
In late June, there is a rapid northward
displacement of the Bermuda and North Pacific
subtropical high pressure cells. In North America,
°
N, 165
°
