Question by Mandy: How can rain in Great Britain by caused by a storm that formed east of the colorado rockies?
An English friend of yours says that last night’s rain over northern Great Britain was caused by a storm that originally formed east of the Colorado Rockies. Explain how this could happen.
Best answer:
Answer by Michel Verheughe
There is a front line between the cold and dry air from the polar region and the milder air from the temperate region. Along that front, low pressures are created because the warm air rises on the top of the cold one.
Those low pressures are generally created over the western Atlantic and move east-north-east toward northern Europe, following the jet streams on the top of the front.
So nearly all the weather over Great Britain comes from somewhere off the US east coast. Perhaps some are even born as far as the east side of the Rockies but then, it is not a storm there, only a slight depression in the pressure. A storm over such a large continent can’t take much momentum.
But hurricanes sweeping over the coast of Florida can turn right and end up in northern Europe as a storm.
Incidentally, I live in Norway, at the lee side of the British Islands. Whatever goes over them … comes over us the day after! 🙂
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