(ORDO NEWS) — Scientists from the University of Miami (USA) present a new type of storm. The discovery was reported at the annual conference of the American Geophysical Society.
Atmospheric lakes form several times a year in the western Indian Ocean near the equator and move towards Africa.
Air masses, supersaturated with water vapor to a pressure of 50 millimeters of mercury, are separated from the bulk of the moist air and exist for at least a week, pouring rain on the East African coast. “Lakes” differ from ordinary atmospheric rivers of water vapor, which continuously flow from source to shore, in that they represent a separate flying mass of moisture.
As noted by meteorologists, over five years, 17 atmospheric lakes were formed, within 10 degrees of latitude from the equator. Probably, these masses are formed in other regions of the Earth.
The researchers plan to identify the mechanism that causes atmospheric lakes to separate from the usual moist air masses constantly moving towards the shores of Africa. This may be due to the general structure of the global climate, or the masses themselves create local winds. In the first case, the atmospheric lake can be affected by global climate change, which changes the amount of precipitation over the east coast of Africa.
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