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Untitled

Released Thursday, April 3, 2014
Updated Tuesday, July 19, 2022 at 9:26AM

ID: 11471

- Written by:
- Kasha Patel
- Scientific consulting by:
- Siegfried D. Schubert
View full credits

Discover how jet streams influence weather and climate on Earth.

Earth's jet streams can reach speeds greater than 275 mph. Here, the fastest winds are red; slower winds are blue.

Generally, the polar jet stream moves on higher latitudes than the subtropical jet stream.

In summer 2010, a high-pressure area split westerly winds over Russia and Pakistan, causing extreme drought and floods.

The flooding in Pakistan killed nearly 2,000 people. Satellite images show the Indus River one year before (left) and during (right) the event.

NASA Science: Earth

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Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
Satellite image courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory/Robert Simmon

Animators
- Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC)
- Horace Mitchell (NASA/GSFC)
- Trent L. Schindler (USRA)
Writer
- Kasha Patel (Wyle Information Systems) [Lead]
Scientist
- Siegfried D. Schubert (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]

Related pages

- European Jet Stream
  May 19, 2014, 8 p.m.
  Meandering around the planet like a rollicking roller coaster in the sky, the Northern Hemisphere s MERRA data model. Jet stream over Europe
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- The Polar Jet Stream Over Asia, 2010
  Feb. 24, 2014, 7 p.m.
  Meandering around the planet like a rollicking roller coaster in the sky, the Northern Hemisphere s MERRA data model from 2010 for the period of the floods in Russia and the droughts in Pakistan. Jet stream over Asia, 2010
  Read more
- The Polar Jet Stream
  Oct. 2, 2011, 8 p.m.
  Meandering around the planet like a rollicking roller coaster in the sky, the Northern Hemisphere s whirling journey over North America. Polar JetThis video is also available on our YouTube channel. Jet Stream, Print Resolution
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