A shortwave or shortwave trough is an embedded kink in the trough / ridge pattern. Its length scale is much smaller than that of and is embedded within longwaves, which are responsible for the largest scale (synoptic scale) weather systems.

There are shortwave troughs and shortwave ridges. These indicate smaller regions of warm/cold temperature contrasts and forced rising or sinking vertical air motions. Because they are much smaller than longwaves, shortwave troughs often have a much sharper curvature than longwaves and hence stronger divergence and forced rising motion.

May 18, 2023 · They usually result from a strong shortwave moving south on the west side of troughs that extended toward the equator. The momentum of the shortwave pulls the trough out of the main airflow and forms a closed, low pressure, circulation.

Nov 1, 2024 · Unlike the slow movement of longwaves, shortwaves move east (downstream) on average of 23 mph (20 kts, 37 km/h) in summer and 35 mph (30 kts, 55 km/h) in winter. This motion causes longwaves to distort and change shape, such as deepening longwave troughs and flattening longwave ridges.

A shortwave trough can be defined in several ways. The following are characteristics that most shortwave troughs possess: (10) Shortwaves move faster than longwaves (usually more than twice as fast). The link below has examples of shortwave troughs.

Jun 2, 2023 · Shortwaves act as a lifting mechanism for moist air parcels to rise, cool, and condense into precipitation. Shortwaves are less obvious when examining weather maps and models, and often appear as minor disruptions or "mini troughs."

Apr 23, 2015 · Shortwave troughs are features in the general flow of the atmosphere that are very important when it comes to forecasting, particularly for convective features and winter weather. Shortwaves can be thought of as "weather-makers," whereas Longwaves (Rossby Waves) might then be "trend-makers."

May 27, 2021 · A shortwave trough has a wavelength (distance between center points of two troughs) of less than 3700 mi. For a refresher of what a trough is check out this previous episode of Weather Word of...

In summary, a pressure trough is associated with a low-level front while a shortwave is associated with an upper level front or a cool pocket aloft. Both are associated with rising air and can add instability to the atmosphere.

A filling major short-wave trough is indicated by stronger Negative Vorticity Advection (NVA) behind the trough than Positive Vorticity Advection (PVA) ahead of the trough. Major short-wave troughs deepen as they move into the long-wave trough, and fill …