oldguyzer
Reviewer
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2011
- Messages
- 15,067
An intense outbreak of cold weather will descend on the eastern two-thirds of the country next week, with widespread low temperatures in the single digits and below zero for a couple of days. Lows in the teens are even possible as far south as Alabama and Mississippi.
People are still a little...touchy...about the polar vortex after last winter. I don't think we should be afraid of using the term as long as it's responsible and in the proper context. Let's get it out of the way right now—yes, this cold outbreak will be influenced in part by the polar vortex, but nowhere near on the scale we saw last winter. The best way to describe it is a glancing blow.
The polar vortex is a persistent, large-scale counterclockwise circulation around the Arctic that acts like a moat keeping bitterly cold air confined to the far north. The vortex often looks like a smooth belt, but every once and a while the circulation will become wavy, allowing cold air to flow south out of the Arctic. Last year, the vortex broke into several upper-level lows, one of which rotated over Ontario and the Great Lakes, causing a prolonged period of extremely cold weather in the United States.
This time around, the main circulation will stay safely up by Greenland, but a trough extending off of the upper-level low will swing down through the Great Lakes and Northeastern United States, facilitating low temperatures at or below zero for a large portion of the Midwest and Northeast for a few days next week.
Translation: it's gonna be farkin' cold!
People are still a little...touchy...about the polar vortex after last winter. I don't think we should be afraid of using the term as long as it's responsible and in the proper context. Let's get it out of the way right now—yes, this cold outbreak will be influenced in part by the polar vortex, but nowhere near on the scale we saw last winter. The best way to describe it is a glancing blow.
The polar vortex is a persistent, large-scale counterclockwise circulation around the Arctic that acts like a moat keeping bitterly cold air confined to the far north. The vortex often looks like a smooth belt, but every once and a while the circulation will become wavy, allowing cold air to flow south out of the Arctic. Last year, the vortex broke into several upper-level lows, one of which rotated over Ontario and the Great Lakes, causing a prolonged period of extremely cold weather in the United States.
This time around, the main circulation will stay safely up by Greenland, but a trough extending off of the upper-level low will swing down through the Great Lakes and Northeastern United States, facilitating low temperatures at or below zero for a large portion of the Midwest and Northeast for a few days next week.
Translation: it's gonna be farkin' cold!
