“Omega Block” a big reason for rising Temperature 30/07/2019 – Posted in: Daily News – Tags:

OMEGA BLOCK

 

For: Mains

Topics covered: Rising temperature caused by Omega Block, Rex Block


 

News Flash

Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands have recorded their highest ever temperatures.

  • The latest heatwave is caused by an “Omega block”.

 

Blocks (Meteorology)

Blocks in meteorology are large-scale patterns in the atmospheric pressure field that are nearly stationary, effectively “blocking” or redirecting migratory cyclones.

  • They are also known as blocking highs or blocking anticyclones.

 

Omega Block

  • Omega Block is a meteorological effect.
  • It is a high-pressure pattern that blocks and diverts the jet stream, allowing a mass of hot air to flow up from northern Africa and the Iberian peninsula.
  • An omega block is an extreme version of a “blocking high”, an area of high pressure which remains stationary for a prolonged period.
  • It gets its name from the way that the jet stream bends around the high and the lows on either side of it, forming a shape resembling the Greek letter omega – Ω.
  • They typically have a low-high-low pattern, arranged in the west-east direction.
  • This type of block can remain in place for weeks, preventing the normal eastward progression of weather systems.
  • The mechanism of blocking is still not well understood.

 

Rex Blocks

  • Rex blocks (or dipole blocks) consist of a high situated poleward (north in the Northern Hemisphere; south in the Southern Hemisphere) of a low.
  • Very often both the high and the low are closed, meaning that the isobars (or constant geopotential height lines) defining the high–low close to form a circle.
  • Rex blocks are named after the meteorologist who first identified them.

 

Source: The Guardian

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