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Dear Tom,
Do the jet streams direct high or low pressures or do the high and low pressures steer the jet streams?
— Alan Petrucci, Western Springs
Dear Alan,
Actually, it can work both ways. Temperature variations through the atmosphere — what we call “baroclinic zones” — are involved in the placement of jet streams. But the redistribution of warm and cold air by the winds of low- and high-pressure areas at the surface play a role in the placement of these thermal boundaries. So, while jet streams and pockets of stronger winds within them — these are called “jet streaks” — play a crucial role in development of storm systems, the circulations within these storms interact with these thermal boundaries and play a crucial role too.
