arctic blast > polar vortex?

[brainhulk]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...atures-heavy-rain-snow-50-MILLION-people.html

Which is more powerful when leveled?

 

[silicon]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...atures-heavy-rain-snow-50-MILLION-people.html

Which is more powerful when leveled?

it all means a lot of cold air will arrive from the north.

 

[JM Aggie08]

They tend to use arctic blast around here.

FWIW, Texas arctic blast = 22F with sleet and flurries

 

[KeithTalent]

I was essentially not wearing a jacket yesterday evening, then I wake up to see my phone is telling me that it feels like -26 outside. Ridiculous.

KT

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Polar vortex is one of the terms voted most overused and which should just go away. It's friggin winter people and we get cold periods, not winter equivalents to tornados.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

it all means a lot of cold air will arrive from the north.

Apparently the next headline will include frost giants. I hope they never have a headline about the state of my garage.

 

[feralkid]

Polar vortex is one of the terms voted most overused and which should just go away. It's friggin winter people and we get cold periods, not winter equivalents to tornados.

It's a legitimate meteorological term used to describe actual planetary phenomena (yes there are two of them), whether you think it sounds cool or not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_vortex

 

[destrekor]

Polar vortex is one of the terms voted most overused and which should just go away. It's friggin winter people and we get cold periods, not winter equivalents to tornados.

Well, outside of common parlance, it was still something meteorologists used among themselves for a very long time now. The Polar Vortex is a semi-permanent feature near the pole, and when it is forced far south, or gets disturbed and broken-up a little bit, it can cause some incredibly cold temperatures in the States.

What is happening right now is an entirely different meteorological phenomenon, though in the end, it's still a blast of Arctic air that we would all very much prefer would go away.

If the forecasters are correct this year, we likely won't be seeing the Polar Vortex breakdowns like we did last year. The jet stream is setting up to be a lot different (but could still return to other patterns) and is influencing a style of arctic air invasion that pulls from the West, away from the Vortex region, and pulls in an Arctic High Pressure system. The Vortex is always a Low Pressure system. What is likely to happen if this trend sets up correctly is what they call a Greenland Block, where a Low Pressure system (like the Low Pressure clipper that dragged this High Pressure system behind it) gets placed up near Newfoundland and helps lock-in the High Pressure system for a week or longer.

some decent reads and a video on the subject:
http://www.weather.com/storms/winter/news/winter-forecast-outlook-theweatherchannel-20141015
http://www.wunderground.com/news/polar-vortex-plunge-science-behind-arctic-cold-outbreaks-20140106

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I was essentially not wearing a jacket yesterday evening, then I wake up to see my phone is telling me that it feels like -26 outside. Ridiculous.

KT

I flew from NYC to Minneapolis on Saturday evening. When we took off it was 26 degrees in MSP, and by the time we had landed it dropped to 2 degrees. This morning it is -9, with -22 wind chill. Ugh . . .

 

[zinfamous]

Polar vortex is one of the terms voted most overused and which should just go away. It's friggin winter people and we get cold periods, not winter equivalents to tornados.

Your betters have determined that weather needs more action.

Get used to it.

 

[Markbnj]

I just think of it as winter.