I reached out to meteorologist David Finfrock about a decade ago asking him about this annual heat dome that doesn’t move. Why every other weather/climate system moves from west to east in North America but somehow this dome just gets anchored in one place. He didn’t have an answer.
Do low pressure systems get anchored like this, ever?
It mostly has to do with where the jet stream is and how powerful it is. Right now it’s REALLY weak and REALLY far north. In general, it’s hot south of the jet stream and cool north of it. And on either side of the jet stream you get storms and the fronts are moving because the jet stream is helping to push them along.
With the jet stream so CRAZY north right now (literally northern Canada) there’s no a lot of movement way down in Texas.
When I lived in Michigan, we watched the jet stream like a hawk. Most summers it either settled a little north of us or a little south of us. Where it settled told you what the summer was going to look like.
I have asked ai. It gave some gobbledygook answer. The bottom line is that the jet stream has to kick it over to some other unfortunate soul. But it is still in zonal flow, i.e. west to east. But you are right. It always sets up right on top of us and it won’t budge. Why can’t it be over Georgia or Ohio or Nebraska? I say build that border wall up about 10,000’ to keep all of that hot air from Mexico from invading us.