DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - The jet stream. Webster defines it as: strong, generally westerly winds concentrated in a relatively narrow and shallow stream in the upper troposphere of the earth.
WAND weather defines it as: the bus driver for storms across the northern hemisphere.
Actually, both definitions are true. Unfortunate for us, there is a split in the jet stream. One north, called the polar jet; one south, dubbed the Pacific jet. The northern jet stream has brought storms in from the Gulf of Alaska, but with little, if any, consequence in the wet weather department. The reason? The storms are moisture-deprived once they get east of the Continental Divide.
The Southern Pacific Branch of the jet controls the Gulf of Mexico. These are the rich, moisture-laden storms that, on occasion, come far enough north for us to get rain or snow this time of year. For now, there isn't much of a mechanism available to get the two jet streams to merge and bring welcome H2O. And, until that happens, the Illinois drought gets worse and worse.
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