A big difference between recent blazing Summers and this one

I noticed something huge, as big as the West Pacific Ocean that is different than previous summers. Take a look a the water vapor filling the whole region.  Satellite images are from the University of Wisconsin SSEC.

Now take a look at June 2011 (last year was the same but there were no good shots.

The dark area in the middle latitudes was built by a strong jet stream.  The subsequent mega-ridge was a persistent feature for more than a year, disrupting weather patterns worldwide by locking extremes in place.

While the weather is never based only on 1 factor.  It is great to take a feature off the table that literally fried us, 3 out of the past 4 summers.