Dynamic Jet Spells Spring Trouble

When the Jet Stream has its highs and lows, much like an elevator operator (see old Vaudeville joke books), there is a lot of changing weather.  In the winter, it brings several opportunities for the southern part of the United States to see the forecaster's nightmare scenario.  The dreaded "Rain-Snow Line" forecast, which is a never-win situation for a forecaster.  Those are the times when a forecaster in, say, Birmingham, has to try to tell the people, with some measure of authority and accuracy, who will see rain, who snow, ice, sleet, etc.  But while that is usually a relatively innocuous position to be in, since missing that forecast means some child has to go to school when he hoped to wake up to snow, while others are driving on snow and ice, never a good combination on southern roads!  But a dynamic weather pattern in the Spring means dangerous, sometimes deadly weather combinations.  Below is a brief journey into meteorology.  Only the brave should read on.  Okay, kidding, just a little Meteorology and Safety Class 101.

The earth's Jet Stream is the cause of virtually all of the clashes of surface weather energy.  It is responsible for taking the cold weather of the north and delivering it to the south, and the other way around.  If we did not have transfers of energy in the atmosphere, the Arctic would be unlivable and the Tropics would be the same.  We need mechanisms to share cold with the tropics, and warm with the poles.  We also need mechanisms that deliver warm air from the surface upward, and cooler air downward.  The same is true in the oceans, but I'll leave that explanation to an oceanologist. 

So, a dynamic Jet Stream is one that has lots of north/south waves, in the form of troughs (lows) and ridges (highs).  In oceanography, those terms for waves would be troughs and peaks.  A dynamic Jet Stream pattern may look like this example, where the cold air from the north heads south, and the warm air from the south heads north.  It is at those cold/warm junctions where the trouble occurs.  I call that area "The Clash".  Without getting too meteorological, these clashes are famous for the most prolific winter storms in the Plains, Midwest, Mid-South, Southeast, and Mid-Atlantic areas, as well as the most prolific outbreaks of deadly tornadic thunderstorms, like April 26-28, 2011.  When the Jet Stream is "flatter", and the troughs and ridges are less defined, those clashes are not only less frequent, but less severe.  That does not mean that in non-dynamic years, deadly outbreaks of tornadoes can't occur, just are less frequent.  Last Spring was a less dynamic pattern, as was the Summer and Fall, hence the near record low number of tornadoes in 2012, but it also included a deadly outbreak of tornadoes on March 2, 2012.

So if 2013's Spring remains as dynamic as it is currently, there is a chance that the severe weather season will start early and be very active.  If I was entering onto a highway, with my closest friends and family in my bus, and I was responsible for their safety, and was told by state troopers that the highway had been particularly dangerous recently, and that because of ongoing construction, the increase in drunk drivers and a recently increased speed limit, I would take extra precautions because of my responsibility.  If I could buy extra protection for my vehicle to lessen the chances of disaster on the highway, I would place as many layers of safety between my riders as possible and affordable.

That is what WeatherCall's family of services gives its subscribers.  You are choosing an extra layer of protection when the weather is about to put you in danger, frequently life-threatening danger.  Consider me the state trooper who has provided you with a little extra advice before entering the Spring Highway of 2013.  Please layer up on your protection, whether it is for your home, your traveling smart phone, your children's schools, or your business.  It only takes one bad car wreck to change your entire life.  The same is true with dangerous thunderstorms.

Brad Huffines 

Meteorologist/National Notification Consultant, Media/Industry/Web, WeatherCall 

Adjunct Instructor of Emergency Public Information / Meteorolgy, FEMA Emergency Management Institute