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A weak polar vortex and severe winter weather
A strong polar vortex means that the winds blowing from west to east at high altitudes across the Arctic are more powerful than when the vortex slackens and meanders.
When the vortex weakens, as it did during the infamous winter of 2012-2013, and several winters since, the ultra-cold air can spill out of the Arctic, as if someone opened the door to the planet's freezer. Not surprisingly, this can lead to cold snaps and snowstorms along the U.S. East Coast, in Western Europe, as well as Eurasia.
Meanwhile, during such episodes the Arctic can be comparatively mild, leading scientists to call such patterns, "warm Arctic, cool continents" setups. These patterns occurred last winter, when several storms brought such mild air to the center of the Arctic Ocean that the North Pole reached near or above freezing for short periods of time.
During the past several years, scientists have been finding that the shape and strength of the stratospheric polar vortex is hugely important for determining what kind of winter weather will dominate large regions of the northern midlatitudes, particularly in Eurasia, which has been seeing a wintertime cooling trend overall.
“Our latest findings not only confirm the link between a weak polar vortex and severe winter weather, but also calculated how much of the observed cooling in regions like Russia and Scandinavia is linked to the weakening vortex.
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Think winters are getting colder? Blame Arctic warming and, yes, the polar vortex
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Pedestrians gather at a bus stop during snowfall along Lexington Avenue, in New York
1 DAY AGO
There is growing scientific support for one of the most provocative and counterintuitive ideas in climate change research, which holds that rapid Arctic warming may be causing colder winters across large swaths of the Northern Hemisphere.
A new study, to be published in the journal Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, found that a weakening polar vortex, potentially set in motion by the rapidly warming and melting Arctic, has become more common during the past four decades. This results in colder winters across large regions of Europe and Russia, but also occasionally in the U.S. as well.
The study is the first to show that changes in winds in the stratosphere substantially contributed to a mysterious winter cooling trend in northern Europe and Asia, including a region already known for being frigid: Siberia.
Temperature anomalies across the Northern Hemisphere in Dec. 2016, illustrating a "warm Arctic, cold continents" pattern
cc
A weak polar vortex and severe winter weather
A strong polar vortex means that the winds blowing from west to east at high altitudes across the Arctic are more powerful than when the vortex slackens and meanders.
When the vortex weakens, as it did during the infamous winter of 2012-2013, and several winters since, the ultra-cold air can spill out of the Arctic, as if someone opened the door to the planet's freezer. Not surprisingly, this can lead to cold snaps and snowstorms along the U.S. East Coast, in Western Europe, as well as Eurasia.
Meanwhile, during such episodes the Arctic can be comparatively mild, leading scientists to call such patterns, "warm Arctic, cool continents" setups. These patterns occurred last winter, when several storms brought such mild air to the center of the Arctic Ocean that the North Pole reached near or above freezing for short periods of time.
During the past several years, scientists have been finding that the shape and strength of the stratospheric polar vortex is hugely important for determining what kind of winter weather will dominate large regions of the northern midlatitudes, particularly in Eurasia, which has been seeing a wintertime cooling trend overall.
“Our latest findings not only confirm the link between a weak polar vortex and severe winter weather, but also calculated how much of the observed cooling in regions like Russia and Scandinavia is linked to the weakening vortex.
cc
Think winters are getting colder? Blame Arctic warming and, yes, the polar vortex
Pedestrians gather at a bus stop during snowfall along Lexington Avenue, in New York
1 DAY AGO
There is growing scientific support for one of the most provocative and counterintuitive ideas in climate change research, which holds that rapid Arctic warming may be causing colder winters across large swaths of the Northern Hemisphere.
A new study, to be published in the journal Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, found that a weakening polar vortex, potentially set in motion by the rapidly warming and melting Arctic, has become more common during the past four decades. This results in colder winters across large regions of Europe and Russia, but also occasionally in the U.S. as well.
The study is the first to show that changes in winds in the stratosphere substantially contributed to a mysterious winter cooling trend in northern Europe and Asia, including a region already known for being frigid: Siberia.
Temperature anomalies across the Northern Hemisphere in Dec. 2016, illustrating a "warm Arctic, cold continents" pattern
cc
European Weather projections....week begins warmer than normal tru Wend
Thursday begins colder than normal temps going tru Sunday of next week being colder than normal temps
Sunday.....East Coast warmer temps than normal temps tru Wend
Tues....East Coast warmer temps than normal
Wend.....East Coast warmer temps than nomal
Thur.....East Coast starts Cold temps coming in
Friday....East Coastal temps drop to Colder than normal
Sun.....East Coastal temps remain cold
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European Weather projections....week begins warmer than normal tru Wend
Thursday begins colder than normal temps going tru Sunday of next week being colder than normal temps
Sunday.....East Coast warmer temps than normal temps tru Wend
Tues....East Coast warmer temps than normal
Wend.....East Coast warmer temps than nomal
Thur.....East Coast starts Cold temps coming in
Friday....East Coastal temps drop to Colder than normal
Sun.....East Coastal temps remain cold
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