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The major stratospheric warming of 1976–77

Abstract

MANY mid-winter warmings of the polar stratosphere have been observed in the last 25 years by means of radiosonde and rocket soundings and, recently, by satellites1. Major warmings involve a reversal of the normal winter temperature gradient and zonal wind component in the stratosphere between middle and high latitudes. (In normal winter conditions temperatures decrease polewards and winds are westerly). We report here on the behaviour of the temperature and wind fields observed at various levels during a major warming and the indication that, in this case, similar changes occurred in both the troposphere and the stratosphere.

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References

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TAYLOR, B., PERRY, J. The major stratospheric warming of 1976–77. Nature 267, 417–418 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/267417a0

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