Remembering 2004, 2005.
STEERING PATTERN JULY 3 - AUG 7
Credits WeatherInsights®: The Weather Channel Blog, NCEP/NCAR
The above image displays the steering currents throughout July and the first week in August. Two tropical cyclones were shoved eastward and out to sea: Bertha, Cristobal. Two headed west and plowed into Texas: Dolly, Edouard.
The dotted red line cutting generally N-S through the eastern United States does not just represent an arbitrary dividing line, it represents the longwave trough axis sandwiched between two areas of semi-permanent high pressure: 4 Corners High (left), Bermuda High (right). These regions of high pressure circulate clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, while air flows counter-clockwise around troughs. These large, "synoptic scale" troughs and ridges often dictate the overall flow of weather in the southwestern Atlantic.
Time now to imagine what it would look like if the dotted red line, the trough, was situated just a couple hundred miles west of its present location. 2004 and 2005 were very familiar with a similar pattern, a pattern allowing for hit after hit after brutal hit on the south and southeastern United States.
This may get interesting...
