Has the polar vortex caused the recent snow in Florida? We ask the experts
“Polar Vortex” sounds cool. It’s like a “bomb cyclone” or “firenado”. It seems like a type of phenomenon that would be responsible for a record explosion of cold, snow and winter conditions that reached all the way to the Gulf coast this week. The polar vortex is a real thing, but it may not be guilty of the extreme cold, which has shocked normally higher regions of the country.
Unusual winter storms and frigid temperatures hit a large US region from Texas to Florida. Snowfall and cold caused flights and closing school, business and road. The National Meteorological Service issued its first ever Blizzard warning For some areas around Lake Charles, Louisiana on January 21st. Parts of Houston has been reported to have received snowfall from up to 6 inches.
The NOAA satellite in the East won a view of the historic winter storm in southern the United States on January 21st.
NWS service for mobile devices, Alabama publishes Formal measurement of snowfall From a 5.4 inches on Tuesday afternoon, breaking a day record of 5 inches, set in 1881. The snow is still falling and reached 7.5 inches a day. Thehe NWS Social Media Team described This amount as “crazy”. Nearby Pensacola, Florida saw such snowfall. It is natural to look north to the cold Arctic for answers why the shores of the Persian Gulf took a polar bear in such an icy weather.
What is the polar vortex?
The polar vortex can ride with the stream flow and push cold air in the United States under certain conditions.
As the name implies, the polar vortex is associated with the northern and south poles of our planet. This is a lower pressure zone and cold air at each pole.
“The weather forecasts examine the polar vortex by considering conditions tens of thousands of feet up into the atmosphere; when we feel extremely cold air from the Arctic regions of the earth, it sometimes connects to the polar vortex,” ” They said nws In the explanatory.
The polar vortex may be associated with seizures of exceptional cold in the United States, but the conditions must be correct. The polar vortex can expand and press south with the stream flow – a narrow current air that flows high up into the atmosphere from west to east. More special, a Polar Vortex hit the US in 2019Starting a volume from Star Wars Hot is joking about the cold.
Does the polar vortex cause cold?
The Arctic Bang, which made the residents of the Gulf shore tremble this week, is not necessarily an example of the polar vortex that continues the attack.
Amy Butler and Laura Kiasto, with the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, run Polar Vortex’s blog on Climate.gov’s NOAA website. Scientists He looked at the polar vortex last week Before the Arctic Bang. At that time, Butler and Kiasto noticed some potential stretching of the polar vortex. But there was another factor in the game.
“Moreover, the high -pressure ridge accumulates at the same time near Alaska, which can also help for the forced flow to south over the continental US and bring cold Arctic air with it, regardless of the polar vortex,” Butler and Butler and Butler and Butler and Ciasto wrote.
A Noooooa Video showed what the ridge looks like:
The cold Arctic air that was hanging over Alaska was immersed south.
“I think the fishing over Alaska plays a greater role in the hearth of the cold air,” Casto told CNET. “The stratospheric polar vortex is not as stretched as last week, so the relationship we have pointed out in our last post is less up -to -date now.”
While the Gulf coast captures cold, Alaska is experiencing high pressure area and softer temperatures, according to Erica Grow CEI, a specialist in public affairs and a NWS meteorologist.
“This, in turn, displaces the Arctic air, which usually sits above our nourishing state at this time of year, and the Arctic air moves down the stream – to the southeast – to the continental US,” Grow CEI told CNET.
The polar vortex can be a powerful source of winter, but this is not the only reason for a strong cold and snow in regions, more known for warmth and sun. The countries on the shore of the Persian Gulf are still digging from the snowy utterance, but at least higher temperatures are about to head over the weekend.
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