Data from the North American Monsoon Experiment (NAME) in 2003 and 2004 was examined with respect to upper tropospheric troughs and the role they may play in modulating both the coverage and intensity of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) in northwest Mexico and the Southwest U.S. These upper level potential vorticity anomalies, which originate in a variety of ways and generally follow the subtropical easterlies, appear to be ubiquitous in the warm season and generally track across the North American Monsoon region. As these systems interact with both topography and monsoon moisture plume, their associated dynamics appear to enhance MCS development. Past research on Tropical Upper Tropospheric Trough (TUTT) cells and subtropical upper tropospheric lows suggest that by tracking the development and evolution of these synoptic-scale features via satellite and real-time upper air data, forecasters may be able to better predict significant convective outbreaks in the North American Monsoon region.