Mondo Knows Facts
The jet stream steers weather systems
A fast ribbon of high altitude wind pushes storms from west to east The jet stream forms where cold polar air meets warmer air to the south, creating a sharp temperature contrast aloft. Winds there can exceed 300 kilometres per hour and meander in a wavy path. The pattern's position helps decide whether a region gets mild or stormy weather. It sits in Mondo's science collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
Where this comes from
Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
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Tags: weather, winds, atmosphere
The jet stream steers weather systems: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- A fast ribbon of high altitude wind pushes storms from west to east. The figure is taken from NOAA, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a science fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Science shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.