Updated January 11th, 2021 at 13:02 IST
Polar Vortex split into two, threatens to send US, Europe, Canada into 'deep freeze'
Arctic's polar vortex is a reoccurring winter phenomenon with strong cold winds that circle westward around the pole causing dark frosty winters.
Advertisement
Meteorologists have predicted that the polar vortex, which is splitting into two and swirling southward, will send the US and European countries into a chilling deep freeze. A notorious swirl of ultracold winds around a low-pressure area due to the major stratospheric temperature spike expected to sweep across these countries causing an extreme dip in temperatures. Canada, Eurasia much of Western Europe and the US, spine chilling cold winter with heavy snow along the US East Coast will ensue, according to several western weather forecasts.
Arctic's polar vortex is a reoccurring winter phenomenon with strong cold winds that circle westward around the pole causing the dark frosty winters, Andrea Lang, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Albany, explained Mashable. He added that the polar vortex is losing stability and its splitting causes dramatic, extreme weather implications across the western nations such as the US and Europe. With a ‘disrupted’ polar vortex in 2021, the colder air is expected to spill out of the Arctic and result in the onset of extremely harsh winters, he warned.
Read: Scientists Reveal Details About Mysterious Sunquakes And Its Origins
Read: Earth Is Spinning Faster Than It Has In Over 50 Years: Scientists
Models do best when predicting amplified flow. Hard to imagine better agreement on large scale pattern of a 10-day forecast between GFS and ECMWF for North America than today's forecast. Consensus is #cold! pic.twitter.com/2Y0fiJrrnY
— Judah Cohen (@judah47)
In honor of the #polarvortex (PV) disruption graduating from minor to major league status today, an extended length PV movie/animation aka "As the PV Turns" with lots of twists and turns in the plot and plenty more drama to come. pic.twitter.com/aE0ybHIpEv
— Judah Cohen (@judah47)
Sudden Stratospheric Warming, "Beast from the East," could cause the polar vortex to weaken, slow down, or even split. It can take weeks to see the effects; regardless, even the ensemble model runs keep the Central Coast dry through the end of January. #CAwx @CALFIRE_SLO pic.twitter.com/tvCNlxHGCZ
— John Lindsey (@PGE_John)
Despite a displacement from the Pole and split in the #SPV stratospheric polar vortex as a result of the current #SSW sudden stratospheric warming event, and evidence of a further battering from a potential 2nd warming mid month the SPV may survive to fight another day!..👀 pic.twitter.com/NdRKe5W0o0
— Marco Petagna (@Petagna)
ECMWF predicts 'unusually strong ridge'
US Midwest and East Coast witnessed a record cold in the 2017 and start of 2018, especially in places like the Arctic and Alaska. The Global Forecast System (GFS) and the European Model, known as the ECMWF now predict “unusually strong ridge” in the middle and upper atmosphere across Alaska in coming one to two weeks. It will swirl coldest winds across the North Pacific and the Arctic region. “This can cause the jet stream to snap southward, directing frigid air from northern Canada and possibly even Siberia southward, crossing the U.S. border during the first week of February,” the weather service report mentioned. It also warned that US cities such as Minneapolis, Chicago and New York are expected to go into a deep freeze as chilled winds have dropped the temperature in Canada and the northern tier of the US such as the Upper Midwest and northern Plains.
Read: Top UK Scientists On Virus Deaths, South Africa Variant
Read: Scientists Discover Oldest And Farthest Galaxy Till Date, Located 13.4 Billion Light-years
Advertisement
Published January 11th, 2021 at 13:02 IST