Planetary-Scale Forcing of the January 1977 Weather
The type of weather anomalies that occurred in the United States during January 1977 are typical of a planetary-scale wave phenomenon called stratospheric sudden warming (SSW). Specific changes in weather parameters nearly always accompany SSW. Blocking ridges (intensified high-pressure cells) devel...
| Published in: | Science |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
1978
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.199.4326.293 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.199.4326.293 |
| Summary: | The type of weather anomalies that occurred in the United States during January 1977 are typical of a planetary-scale wave phenomenon called stratospheric sudden warming (SSW). Specific changes in weather parameters nearly always accompany SSW. Blocking ridges (intensified high-pressure cells) develop over the oceans, the North Pole warms, mid-latitudes cool, and continental temperatures plunge. These characteristics usually persist for at least a month. When the SSW is strong, as in January 1958, 1963, and 1977, the accompanying weather anomalies can be unusually severe. |
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