An important uncertainty is the definition of the inflow boundary condition, which is influenced by larger scale weather phenomena.
"For the first time, we can see large-scale weather systems developing on and just below the surface of a star," Dr. Deborah A. Haber of Colorado said.
This dominance of rotation direction is indirectly due to the Earth's rotation, which plays a role in controlling the structure of all large-scale weather systems.
Drastic die-offs of coral were seen for the first time in 1983 in the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean, during a large-scale weather event known as El Niño.
Windstorms may last for just a few minutes when caused by downbursts from thunderstorms, or they may last for hours (and even several days) when they result from large-scale weather systems.
In an analysis of data gathered over the last six years by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, SOHO, scientists at the University of Colorado produced the first large-scale weather maps of the Sun, showing wind patterns evolving daily not only across the entire visible solar surface but down to depths of about 8,000 miles.
In addition, most seasonal-storm forecasters closely monitored the status of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a large-scale weather pattern associated with the warming and cooling of the equatorial Pacific Ocean, because it can affect the strength of wind shear which inhibits storm development—over the Atlantic Ocean.
The addition of Goldman, a financial company, among such a tech-rich crew might seem strange, but Mr. Frankovsky noted that financial institutions along with petroleum companies and large-scale weather forecasters are also big consumers of data at high computing speeds.
The kinetic energy of large-scale weather systems including cyclones and anticyclones is closely tied to the overall strength of the jet stream, Coumou says.
The only explanation so far is that unprecedented large-scale weather patterns have warmed the stratosphere, inhibiting the atmospheric chemistry favoring ozone destruction and importing extra ozone.
The irregular and relatively unpredictable portion of this variability is primarily caused by the passage of clouds and large-scale weather systems.
