Flow Speed
1.0x
Linked Latitude Probe (Drag here or on canvases):
30.0° N (Subtropical Ridge)
0° Equator (ITCZ)
30°N Subtropical High
60°N Polar Front
90°N Pole
Season Shift
Equinox
NH Winter
Equinox
NH Summer
Jet Waves
Moderate
Zonal
Rossby Waves
Panel 1 • Interactive 3D Planetary View (Drag horizontally to rotate!)
GLOBAL WIND PATTERNS & 3D SIDE CUTAWAY
Trade Winds
Westerlies
Polar Easterlies
Subtropical Jet
Polar Jet
Panel 2 • Vertical Cross-Section (0° to 90°N)
ALTITUDE OF CELLS, TROPOPAUSE & JETS
Y-Axis: 0–18 km (0–12 mi)
Jets: Flowing Into Page (W→E)
Stepped Tropopause
Warm Rising Air
Cold Sinking Air
Click any cell or jet core to lock focus
Synchronized Overview
How Planetary Winds Connect to Vertical Tropospheric Depth
Look at both panels together: on the Left Globe, surface winds curve due to the Coriolis effect (Trade Winds, Westerlies, Polar Easterlies). On the Right Vertical Profile, you are slicing the Northern Hemisphere atmosphere from the Equator ($0^\circ$) to the North Pole ($90^\circ\text{N}$) up to $18\text{ km}$. Notice how the Tropopause steps downward from $17\text{ km}$ at the Equator to $9\text{ km}$ at the Pole, and the two Jet Streams sit wedged right inside those altitude steps!
Probe Latitude
30.0° N
Hadley / Ferrel Edge
Tropopause Ceiling
13.8 km
~8.6 miles high
Surface Wind (0–2 km)
Subtropical High
Calm / Diverging
Upper Troposphere
Subtropical Jet
W→E @ ~140 kt