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“Polar vortex” makes perfect sense. It’s like “tornado” or “firenado.” It looks like the type of event that could lead to a record-breaking flurry of snow, ice and cold weather that hit the Gulf Coast this week. The polar nose is a real thing, but it can’t be the result of the extreme cold that rocked the usually warm parts of the country.
Unprecedented storms and extreme heat swept across much of the US from Texas to Florida. The snow and cold caused flight cancellations as well as school, business and road closures. The National Weather Service issued the first release tornado warning for some areas around Lake Charles, Louisiana on Jan. 21. Sections a Houston is said to have received snow up to 6 inches.
NOAA’s Goes-East satellite captured a historic storm in the southern US on Jan. 21.
The Mobile, Alabama NWS office wrote snow measurement of 5.4 inches Tuesday afternoon, breaking the one-day record of 5 inches set in 1881. Snow was still falling and totaled 7.5 inches that day. The The NWS information system is defined all of that as “crazy.” A similar snowfall occurred near Pensacola, Florida. It’s only natural to look north to the frigid Arctic for answers to why the Gulf Coast is so cold.
What is a polar vortex?
A polar vortex can ride up the jet stream and push cold air into the US at times.
As the name suggests, the polar vortex is associated with the northern and southern planets of the earth. It’s less space and cooler air at any price.
“Weather forecasters determine the direction of hurricanes by looking at conditions thousands of feet in the air; The NWS said in explanation.
A polar vortex can be associated with extreme cold in the US, but conditions must be right. The polar vortex can expand and push southward with the jet stream – a narrow stream of air that moves upward from west to east. In particular, a The polar vortex hit the US in 2019launching a volley of Star Wars Hoth jokes about the cold.
Did the polar vortex cause the cold?
The Arctic blast that left Gulf Coast residents reeling this week wasn’t just an example of a storm taking place in the plot.
Amy Butler and Laura Ciasto with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration run the polar vortex blog on NOAA’s Climate.gov website. Scientists they explored the polar vortex last week before the Arctic eruption. At that time, Butler and Ciasto observed the spread of the polar vortex. But there was something else that made him play.
“In addition, a high-pressure mountain has been simultaneously growing near Alaska, which may also help force the jet stream to jump south over the US region and bring cold Arctic air with it, unrelated to the polar vortex,” Butler and Ciasto wrote.
A NOAA video showed what the group looks like:
The cold Arctic air above Alaska sank south.
“I think the elevation in Alaska is playing a big role in the cold air burst,” Ciasto told CNET. “The stratospheric polar vortex is not as extended as it was last week so the connection we showed in our last post is not relevant now.”
While the Gulf Coast cooled, Alaska experienced high pressure and moderate heat, according to Erica Grow Cei, NWS public affairs and meteorologist.
“This removes the Arctic air that normally stays in our northern region this time of year, and the Arctic air flows down — southeast — toward the US,” Grow Cei told CNET.
Storms can be a powerful source of winter weather, but they are not the only cause of extreme cold and snow in areas known for their warmth and sunshine. Gulf Coast areas are still digging into the snow, but milder temperatures are on the way for the weekend.
