The Tehuantepec Wind Jet These figures show R-squared values (equivalent to the squared correlations) obtained from multivariate regression of the major-axis component of Tehuantepec winds onto the two orthogonal wind components over the region of interest. The different panels correspond to time-lagged regressions at lags of -1, 0 and +1 day. The correlation scales of the Tehuantepec jet are clearly seen from contours of the R-squared values. The vectors indicate the direction of the winds at the corresponding grid point that are correlated with variations in the Tehuantepec jet. From the sequence of three lagged regression maps, Tehuantepec jets are associated with high winds from synoptic weather patterns that migrate from west to east across the Gulf of Mexico and northwest Caribbean Sea. This is in accord with the conventional view. However, in contradiction to the conventional view, the Tehuantepec jet is poorly correlated with the Papagayo and Panama jets at all lags. Throughout the area of interest, only the downwind extension of the Tehuantepec jet is highly correlated with winds at the mouth of the Tehuantepec gap.

Lagged regression maps for the Tehuantepec jet. (Enlarged image size: 16.9 K)

Zero-lag regression maps for the Papagayo and Panama jets. (Enlarged image size: 12.7 K)

The Papagayo and Panama Wind Jets The spatial correlation patterns associated with the Papagayo and Panama jets are characterized by broad zonal bands of high R-squared values. This indicates that these wind jets are both associated with variations in the tradewinds that span from the Caribbean across Central America into the Pacific. The negligible correlations with wind variations in the Gulf of Mexico imply that the Papagayo and Panama wind jets are decoupled from low-level atmospheric variability at midlatitudes.