–
Guided
Show
Reading the jets
Jet shells above 5 km: ≥ 198 km/h, ≥ 252 km/h, glowing core ≥ 306 km/h
Flow: air parcels riding the wind at 300 hPa (cyan, about 9 km, the polar jet) and 250 hPa (gold, about 10.4 km, the subtropical jet)
Suction at the left exit: where the merged jet pulls air apart aloft (divergence at 300 hPa), sparks rise from the ground to jet level
The ball is the storm centre, resting in the pressure hollow
Ground: sea-level pressure as a surface, blue = low and deep, red = high; land darker
box 42° × 36°, 0–12 km, strongly exaggerated · ERA5 hourly