Oct 23, 2026 · 19 min · 15 segments
Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/DonateSPACE Uploaded 16-08-17 Earth has its share of…
Matt O'DowdHost
Earth has its share of monster storms, but even our most powerful hurricanes are a breeze compared to the great planet-sized tempests of the gas giants.

The great vortices of the Jovian planets are true storms, analogous in many ways to Earth's hurricanes.

The largest and oldest storm in the solar system is Jupiter's Great Red Spot, stretching an incredible two to three times the diameter of the planet Earth.

Meanwhile, the fastest winds ever measured, clocking 1,500 miles per hour, once raged in Neptune's Great Dark Spot.

We may be close to finding some answers following the Juno spacecraft's recent flyby of Jupiter's Great Red Spot.

Before we get to the unknown, let's talk about what we do know about these storms.

Warm water-laden air rises from below, while cool air and precipitation sink from above, creating a vertical convection cell.

In the case of Earth storms, the energy powering that convection comes from the sun-warmed ocean.

This convection sustains a central low pressure region, which sucks in the surrounding moist ocean air.

These incoming winds travel such large distances across the Earth's surface that they are subject to the Coriolis force.

Any object moving over a spinning surface will appear to follow a curved path relative to an observer moving with that surface.

On a clockwise spinning surface, there's a pull, a Coriolis force to the left, while on a counterclockwise surface, the Coriolis force is to the right.

So as air rushes in all directions into a low pressure storm cell, the Coriolis effect causes it to curl around in a circle.

The result is a raging vortex in the same direction as the Earth's rotation, clockwise in the southern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the north.

These storms can persist as long as the warm ocean provides energy to drive the convection cycle.

Earth has its share of monster storms, but even our most powerful hurricanes are a breeze compared to the great planet-sized tempests of the gas giants.

The great vortices of the Jovian planets are true storms, analogous in many ways to Earth's hurricanes.

The largest and oldest storm in the solar system is Jupiter's Great Red Spot, stretching an incredible two to three times the diameter of the planet Earth.

Meanwhile, the fastest winds ever measured, clocking 1,500 miles per hour, once raged in Neptune's Great Dark Spot.

We may be close to finding some answers following the Juno spacecraft's recent flyby of Jupiter's Great Red Spot.

Before we get to the unknown, let's talk about what we do know about these storms.

Warm water-laden air rises from below, while cool air and precipitation sink from above, creating a vertical convection cell.

In the case of Earth storms, the energy powering that convection comes from the sun-warmed ocean.

This convection sustains a central low pressure region, which sucks in the surrounding moist ocean air.

These incoming winds travel such large distances across the Earth's surface that they are subject to the Coriolis force.

Any object moving over a spinning surface will appear to follow a curved path relative to an observer moving with that surface.

On a clockwise spinning surface, there's a pull, a Coriolis force to the left, while on a counterclockwise surface, the Coriolis force is to the right.

So as air rushes in all directions into a low pressure storm cell, the Coriolis effect causes it to curl around in a circle.

The result is a raging vortex in the same direction as the Earth's rotation, clockwise in the southern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the north.

These storms can persist as long as the warm ocean provides energy to drive the convection cycle.
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