Meteorologists talk about the jet stream all the time and how it may or may not affect the weather in our area. It is, after all, a very important factor! But there is another factor when talking about the jet stream that you rarely hear about. The jet streak vs. the jet stream debate is what we’ll be talking about here today. The jet stream is an area of relatively strong winds concentrated within a narrow band in the atmosphere. Think of the jet stream as a storm track. When the jet is ridging over Nebraska, storms will remain to the north of us. If the jet is troughing through the Heartland, there is a better chance of receiving precipitation across the state. The jet stream also plays a major role in temperature variations. The jet streak, on the other hand, is a region of maximum winds that move through the axis of the jet stream. Jet streaks can also be an area of high wind speeds not necessarily associated with the jet stream. Either way, jet streaks are known to enhance storm activity. Sometimes considered as an upper level disturbance, a jet streak can energize an area of moderate thunderstorms creating a large complex of severe thunderstorms.
Weather Last Week
July 21: 65/104/0.01”
July 22: 66/97/Trace
July 23: 55/81/ Trace
July 24: 51/89/ Trace
July 25: 54/92/0”
July 26: 60/100/0.51”
July 27: 59/98/0”
Forecast discussion for the week ahead:
As we move into August, it’s very easy to see some of the hottest temperatures of the year. However, this year appears to be a little different! With some additional clouds and quite a few chances for scattered showers and storms, temperatures will be held in check for a while. We do warm back up by the end of the weekend and into next week, though.