Science: Jet Wind

Airline meteorologists in South America were happy last week. They had found what they had been looking for—a “jet stream” of high-velocity wind in the sub-stratospheric sky. Apparently caused by encounters between air masses of different temperatures, it swooshes along at altitudes above present-day airline routes. A similar jet stream has been discovered in North America weaving crazily over the continent at 25,000 ft. and higher and at speeds up to 200 m.p.h. (TIME, May 29). In the coming years of high-altitude jet transport flying, the streams will become increasingly important.

The southern jet stream, according to the Panair do Brasil meteorologists who discovered it, probably girdles the southern part of the globe. Moving eastward at 36,000 ft., its speed is slightly less than that of the northern stream, and its core is sometimes 180 miles wide. It rides erratically over Rio de Janeiro in winter and Patagonia in summer. Since it borders weather fronts up & down South America, Panair officials are trying to plot its tortured turnings and twistings for more accurate weather forecasting. They also want to know more about it for the day when their jet airliners may be bumming rides on the stream, possibly cutting schedules and fuel consumption by 30%.