Polar Vortex Abnormalities Leading To 'Arctic Blasts' Across U.S., Europe

The now disrupting polar vortex is set to release arctic blasts and extreme winter weather across the United States and Europe

Strange Sounds

The blast of Arctic weather currently burying Europe and eastern Canada in meters of snow could be a first sign of still worse things to come this winter.

There are indeed signs that a circular low-pressure system of swirling winds that normally keeps frigid air locked up at the North Pole has been disrupted and split into smaller parts.

The disruption in this counterclockwise-spinning beast, called the polar vortex, is thought to be caused in part by a warm summer over the Arctic and a relatively cold fall over Siberia.

The result for the United States and northern Europe?

A severe winter lasting throughout February and possibly into March.

The breaking up of the polar vortex could be the culprit for the coming extreme storms.

A lot of #PolarVortex chatter. Normally it stays north, but it’s splitting due to big warm up in the North Pole & could be heading south. Indications are that we could see a big blast of cold...or coldest air yet...by the 16th of Jan and the 19th. Models a bit back & forth tho.

The weather models suggest that the disruptions would follow the pattern of polar vortex collapses seen during the northern winter last year, which resulted in freezing weather across the United States in December and January, and a severe cold snap in March over the United Kingdom.

“This pattern looks much more active, [with] more winter type storms and Arctic outbreaks — I think I would attribute it to definitely being a polar vortex disruption, because it is very consistent with what we’ve seen in the past.”

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