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“polar vortex” sounds great. It’s like “bomb cyclone” or “firenado.” It looks like the type of event that could be responsible for the record breaking cold, snow and wintry conditions that have reached the Gulf Coast this week. The polar vortex is a real thing, but it can’t be blamed for the extreme cold that is rocking the usually warmer regions of the country.
Unusual winter storms and freezing temperatures have hit a large region of the US from Texas to Florida. Snow and cold have caused flight cancellations and school, business and road closures. The National Weather Service issued its first blizzard warning for some areas around Lake Charles, Louisiana on January 21. Parts of Houston is reported to have received snowfall up to 6 inches.
NOAA’s Goes-East satellite captured a view of the historic winter storm in the southern US on January 21.
The NWS office for Mobile, Alabama posted a official measurement of snowfall of 5.4 inches on Tuesday afternoon, breaking the one-day record of 5 inches set in 1881. Snow still fell and totaled 7.5 inches for the day. the Illustrated by the NWS social media team which is total as “insane.” Nearby Pensacola, Florida saw similar snowfall. It’s only natural to look north to the cold Arctic for answers as to why the Gulf Coast has taken polar bears down through such icy weather.
What is a polar vortex?
The polar vortex can ride the jet stream and push cold air into the US under certain conditions.
As the name suggests, the polar vortex is associated with the north and south poles of our planet. This is an area of low pressure and cold air at each pole.
“Weather forecasters analyze the polar vortex by looking at conditions tens of thousands of feet up in the atmosphere; however, when we feel extremely cold air from the Arctic regions on the Earth’s surface, sometimes it is associated with the polar vortex,” the NWS said in an explainer.
The polar vortex can be connected to outbreaks of extreme cold in the US, but conditions have to be right. The polar vortex can expand and push south with the jet stream – a narrow stream of air that moves high in the atmosphere from west to east. Notice, a The polar vortex hit the US in 2019launched a volley of Star Wars Hoth jokes about the cold.
Is the polar vortex the cause of the cold?
The Arctic blast that shook Gulf Coast residents this week isn’t necessarily an example of the polar vortex continuing to attack.
Amy Butler and Laura Ciasto with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration run a polar vortex blog on NOAA’s Climate.gov site. The scientists checked the polar vortex last week before the Arctic eruption. At that time, Butler and Ciasto saw some possible stretching of the polar vortex. But there is another factor at play.
“In addition, a strong ridge of high pressure is simultaneously building near Alaska, which also helps force the jet stream to dive south over the continental US and bring cold Arctic air with it. of this, independent of the polar vortex,” Butler and Ciasto wrote.
A NOAA video shows what the ridge looks like:
The cold Arctic air that hangs over Alaska moves southward.
“I think the Alaskan ridging plays a bigger role in the cold blast,” Ciasto told CNET. “The stratospheric polar vortex is not as stretched as it was last week so the connection we pointed out in our last post is not as relevant today.”
As the Gulf Coast cools, Alaska experiences an area of high pressure and milder temperatures, according to Erica Grow Cei, public affairs specialist and meteorologist with the NWS.
“This in turn shifts the Arctic air that normally sits in our northernmost state at this time of year, and the Arctic air moves down — southeast — toward the continental US,” Grow Cei told CNET.
The polar vortex can be a powerful source of winter weather, but it is not the only cause of extreme cold and snow in regions better known for warmth and sunshine. Gulf Coast states continue to dig out of snowdrifts, but at least warmer temperatures are on tap heading into the weekend.
