Wednesday, August 02, 2006

"It's a Caribbean heat wave" (In Canada)

So much for going to Canada in the Summer to cool off. We were up there last August - and there was a similar heat wave then.

...Due to a high pressure system lingering over parts of the Great Lakes, Southern Ontario and northeastern parts of the United States have effectively taken on the tropical heat of the Gulf of Mexico, says Environment Canada's senior meteorologist Geoff Coulson....
"As the cool air descended, the surrounding air in the upper troposphere -- the lower part of the atmosphere -- filled up the extra space, which caused higher pressure at the surface. The higher-pressure air at the surface then started flowing outward, but as it did, the rotation of the Earth turned the wind to the right, which pulled the air from the Gulf of Mexico."
Typically, these high pressure systems are blown away by the jet stream, but over the past few days the upper troposphere winds have been very light.
"It's really the jet stream that directs these systems, but because the winds are so light, this system just keeps pulling in more humid air from the Gulf," Mr. Coulson said....

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