Huge storms with winds of 200 m.p.h. have been discovered in the Earth's upper atmosphere, 30 to 60 miles above the ground. Scientists told the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco last week that the storms cover areas the size of the United States, and no one had expected such large systems at that altitude.
The discovery was made with a high-resolution Doppler imager on NASA's recently launched Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite. "We had expected to see a quiet region where winds slosh back and forth, like the sea," said Paul B. Hays of the University of Michigan.
