jet stream

noun

1. strong, generally westerly winds concentrated in a relatively narrow and shallow stream in the upper troposphere of the earth.
2. similar strong winds in the atmosphere of another planet:

   jet streams on Jupiter.

3. the exhaust of a jet or rocket engine.

jet stream

noun

1. meteorol a narrow belt of high-altitude winds (about 12 000 metres high) moving east at high speeds and having an important effect on frontogenesis
2. the jet of exhaust gases produced by a gas turbine, rocket motor, etc

jet stream

1. A narrow current of strong wind circling the Earth from west to east at altitudes of about 11 to 13 km (7 to 8 mi) above sea level. There are usually four distinct jet streams, two each in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Jet stream wind speeds average 56 km (34 mi) per hour in the summer and 120 km (74 mi) in the winter. They are caused by significant differences in the temperatures of adjacent air masses. These differences occur where cold, polar air meets warmer, equatorial air, especially in the latitudes of the westerlies.

jet stream

1. A narrow band of swiftly moving air found at very high altitudes.

Notes

Movements of the jet stream have important (but generally short-lived) effects on weather patterns.

Travel time in an airplane can be lengthened or shortened by the jet stream, depending on the direction of flight and the strength of the stream.

Word History and Origins

Origin of jet stream¹

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

The final figure shows the jet stream pattern at high levels, during the phase of most intense sleet on Thursday morning.

From Washington Post

The two high pressure zones have pinned the jet stream in place, keeping the Great Plains in the bull’s eye.

From Popular-Science

Scientists say warming in the Arctic, where temperatures are rising faster than anywhere else on the planet, may be weakening the jet stream that typically keeps cold air deep in the northern hemisphere.

From Time

Strong jet stream winds captured some of the system’s upper-level cirrus, or wispy ice clouds at high altitudes, and carried them east across the Blue Ridge and toward the Mid-Atlantic.

From Washington Post

As the jet stream runs into that ridge, explains Lopez Lang, it directs waves of energy upwards towards the stratosphere.

From Popular-Science

The family held together in the gypsy jet stream that is military life.

From The Daily Beast

We know that Oklahoma will have tornadoes when the cold jet stream meets the warm gulf air.

From The Daily Beast

“The jet stream always has something to say about where hurricanes go when they leave the tropics,” she says.

From The Daily Beast

The jet stream was higher this time than on that other journey now two months past.

From Project Gutenberg