I recently learned some more information that ties in with this discussion while watching the PBS series Warplane.
The jet stream over the main island of Japan is so powerful that when B-29s were finally in place to do conventional bombing raids they experienced great difficulty.
If the bombers flew against the jet stream, they slowed down to crawls and became easy targets. If the bombers went with the jet stream, they passed over the island much too quickly to hit targets, and in many cases, missed the island completely. Flying sideways into the jet stream proved to be problematic as well.
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