This article was written by by someone who doesn’t quite get it (anticyclone in quotes? Even my iPhone knows that word). It’s cool that an undergrad is lead author, though.
But the underlying article in GRL seems interesting:
> From late June to early July 2021, an unprecedented heat wave enveloped the Pacific Northwest, causing over 1,000 deaths. We investigate the meteorological condition and physical processes responsible for this event. Persistent meandering of the upper-level jet stream (blocking anticyclone) established a warm, stagnant column of air over the Pacific Northwest, which suppressed convection and trapped heat near the surface. Somewhat counterintuitively, the blocking anticyclone itself grew out of a cyclone that developed upstream (Gulf of Alaska) a few days prior: the heat released during the formation of clouds in this storm played an essential role in strengthening the blocking anticyclone downstream, and the subsequent heat wave. To the extent that the condensation of moisture enhances blocking anticyclones in summer, we can expect them and associated heat waves to intensify as the climate warms and the atmosphere contains more water vapor.
But the underlying article in GRL seems interesting:
> From late June to early July 2021, an unprecedented heat wave enveloped the Pacific Northwest, causing over 1,000 deaths. We investigate the meteorological condition and physical processes responsible for this event. Persistent meandering of the upper-level jet stream (blocking anticyclone) established a warm, stagnant column of air over the Pacific Northwest, which suppressed convection and trapped heat near the surface. Somewhat counterintuitively, the blocking anticyclone itself grew out of a cyclone that developed upstream (Gulf of Alaska) a few days prior: the heat released during the formation of clouds in this storm played an essential role in strengthening the blocking anticyclone downstream, and the subsequent heat wave. To the extent that the condensation of moisture enhances blocking anticyclones in summer, we can expect them and associated heat waves to intensify as the climate warms and the atmosphere contains more water vapor.