How Does the Jet Stream Change through the Year?
ES1906  Great Rivers of Air

Jet streams are narrow bands of high-speed winds that move like great rivers of air around Earth in each hemisphere. These rivers of air are located between 8 to 12 miles (13 to 19 km) above Earth's surface, and generally flow from west to east at mid-latitudes. Wind speeds within jet streams reach as high as 250 miles per hour (400 km/hr).

National Weather Service
Generalized view of the polar jet stream flowing across North America.
Notice that the fastest wind speeds tend to be in the middle of the jet stream. 


	

 	

		
			
	

	
	

		 
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