Jet streams are fast, narrow currents of air that flow near the tropopause, roughly 30,000 feet up, circling the globe from west to east. Each hemisphere has a polar jet stream, typically moving around 110 miles per hour with occasional much faster bursts, and a weaker subtropical jet stream closer to the equator at a somewhat higher altitude. They form from the combination of solar heating, which drives large-scale atmospheric circulation, and the Coriolis force, which deflects moving air; the sharper the temperature contrast between neighboring air masses, the stronger the resulting jet. Jet streams typically meander in a wavering path that itself propagates eastward, steering storm systems at lower altitudes and shaping the distribution of precipitation, the development of hurricanes, and seasonal weather patterns, including the shifts in North American rainfall associated with El Nino and La Nina; meteorologists track jet stream position as a key aid to forecasting.
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