By Rusty Dawkins, Meteorologist/Climatologist The Gulf Stream is a river of water that can do some amazing things. It’s located along the east coast and stretches from Florida to the North Atlantic Ocean and has warmer temperatures compared to the surrounding ocean waters. This warm water is transported northward from the warm lower latitudes. How does it get pushed up so far north? Amazingly enough, it’s because of the wind. A large subtropical high pressure system known as the Bermuda high is located in the mid-Atlantic ocean and it spins clockwise. The wind on the western side of this high blows from the south, which helps to transport the warm water from south to the north. This warm current is transported all the way to Western Europe where it becomes known as the north Atlantic drift. Winter time temperatures over Great Britain and the Scandinavian countries are relatively mild for how far north they are. London, for example, is farther north than New York City and the average January temperature is 8 degrees warmer than New York! The warm ocean current modifies any intrusion of Arctic air and snowstorms are rare in London. Coming back to the east coast of America, the Gulf Stream can help generate large storm systems. The warm ocean waters in the Gulf Stream evaporate and release a tremendous amount of energy in the atmosphere, which can produce the nor’easters we often hear about along the east coast.
Rusty Dawkins grew up in Gordon and graduated from Gordon High School in 1991. He then spent a couple of years at Chadron State College before finishing his meteorology degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is married to his wife Melanie and has two children, Bryce and Gillian. He loves to travel and golf, so if you see him out and about, be sure to say hello!