Phys.org  November 4, 2024 Poleward water vapor transport in the midlatitudes mainly occurs in meandering filaments of intense water vapor transport, spanning thousands of kilometers long and hundreds of kilometers wide and moving eastward. The water vapor filaments, known as atmospheric rivers (ARs), can cause extreme wind gusts, intense precipitation, and flooding along densely populated coastal regions. Many recent studies about ARs focused on the statistical analyses of ARs, but a process-level understanding of ARs remains elusive. A team of researchers in the US (Argonne National Laboratory, University of Chicago) showed that ARs are streams of air with enhanced vapor […]