WEATHER · JET STREAM
Jet Stream
The jet stream - the ribbon of 100-200 mph wind ~34,000 ft up (250 hPa) that steers storms and sets flight times. Painted worldwide as a flowing ribbon over a faint speed tint (brightest at the fastest cores), and it also reads at any point on the map (tap or hover), following the forecast timeline.
What it shows
The jet stream is a river of wind near the top of the troposphere - around 250 hPa, roughly 34,000 ft - where the temperature contrast between cold polar air and warm tropical air drives winds of 100 to 200 mph. It steers surface storms, deepens or fills lows, and sets airline flight times: eastbound flights ride it, westbound flights fight it.
How to read it
You see it two ways at once. It is painted worldwide as a flowing ribbon of upper-air motion over a faint speed tint - the tint stays dark over calm air and brightens through blue, green and amber to red at the fastest cores, so the jet core reads at a glance. And it still reads at a point: tap the map or hover, and the readout gives the real jet-stream speed and flow direction at that spot, following the timeline hour by hour. Because the ribbon animates, the map runs flat (2-D) while it is on. Look for the fastest cores threading around the mid-latitudes; where the ribbon buckles into big north-south waves, expect blocked, stormy surface weather beneath. The ribbon and tint are rendered from NOAA GFS 250 hPa wind with WeatherLayers; the point value comes from Open-Meteo (DWD ICON).
SEE IT LIVE
Open the full weather console with jet stream on, then stack other overlays and scrub the forecast.