Storm tracks and jets, together with their modes of variability, affect the regional distribution of precipitation, temperature, and wind in the midlatitudes of both hemispheres. One of the most pressing questions regarding the impacts of climate change concerns how storm tracks will change. While comprehensive climate models predict a poleward shift of the zonal-mean midlatitude westerlies in response to global warming, observational evidence is mixed, and such a shift does not necessarily occur regionally, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere.

Recently, the World Climate Research Program Grand Challenge Workshop on Clouds, Circulation and Climate Sensitivity identified the question of  “what controls the strength and position of tropical precipitation maxima?” as one for which concerted effort could lead to scientific breakthroughs and more reliable projections of future changes in climate patterns.