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Science 20 January 1978:
Vol. 199. no. 4326, pp. 293 - 295
DOI: 10.1126/science.199.4326.293
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Articles

Planetary-Scale Forcing of the January 1977 Weather

J. P. McGUIRK 1

1 Atmospheric Science Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 80523

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.

Submitted on February 22, 1977
Revised on November 18, 1977


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Winter Rain and Summer Ozone: A Predictive Relationship.
J. S. SANDBERG, M. J. BASSO, and B. A. OKIN (1978)
Science 200, 1051-1054
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