It has been decades since parts of the US Midwest experienced a deep freeze like the one headed to the region, with potential record-low temperatures heightening fears of frostbite and hypothermia even in a region where residents are accustomed to bundling up.
This "polar vortex," as
one meteorologist calls it, is caused by a counterclockwise-rotating pool of
cold, dense air. The frigid air, piled up at the North Pole, will be pushed
down to the US, funneling it as far south as the Gulf Coast.
The storm comes on the heels of a
massive winter weather system that slammed the Midwest and Northeastjust after
New Year's Day, causing more than a dozen deaths, grounding thousands of flights
and forcing the closure of schools and government offices.
A state of emergency was declared in
New York and New Jersey after heavy snow fell.
Ryan Maue, a meteorologist for
Weather Bell, said temperature records will likely be broken during the short
yet forceful deep freeze that will begin in many places tomorrow and extend
into early next week.
That's thanks to a perfect
combination of the jet stream, cold surface temperatures and the polar vortex.
"All the ingredients are there
for a near-record or historic cold outbreak," he said "If you're
under 40 (years old), you've not seen this stuff before."
The temperature predictions are
startling: -32 degrees Celsius in Fargo, North Dakota, -35C in International
Falls, Minnesota and -26C in Indianapolis and Chicago. At those temperatures,
exposed skin can get frostbitten in minutes and hypothermia can quickly set in
because wind chills could hit -45 to -57C.
Tomorrow's NFL playoff game in Green
Bay could be among one of the coldest NFL games ever played. Temperatures at
Lambeau Field are expected to be a frigid -19C when the Packers and San
Francisco 49ers kickoff, and by the fourth quarter it'll be a bone-chilling
-22C, with wind chills approaching -34C, according to the National Weather
Service.
Officials were warning fans to take
extra safety measures to stay warm including dressing in layers and sipping
warm drinks.
Minnesota called off school for
Monday (Tuesday NZT) statewide, the first such closing in 17 years, because of
projected highs in the minus-teens and lows as cold as -34C.
Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin,
students also won't be in class. North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple urged
superintendents to keep children's safety in making the decision after the
state forecast called for "life threatening wind chills" through to
Tuesday morning.
And though this cold spell will last
just a few days as warmer air comes behind, it likely will freeze over the
Great Lakes and other bodies of water, meaning frigid temperatures will likely
last the rest of winter, Maue said.
"It raises the chances for
future cold," he said, adding it could include next month's Super Bowl in
New Jersey.
Snow already on the ground and fresh
powder expected in some places ahead of the cold air will reduce the sun's
heating effect, so nighttime lows will plummet thanks to strong northwest winds
that will deliver the Arctic blast, Maue said. And there's no warming effect
from the Gulf to counteract the cold air, he said.
The cold blast will sweep through
parts of New England, where residents will have just dug out from a snowstorm
and the frigid temperatures that followed.
Parts of the central Midwest could
also see up to a half a metre of snow just as the cold sweeps in pulling temperatures
to 23 below zero in the St Louis area.
Even places accustomed to normally
mild to warmer winters will see a plunge in temperatures early next week,
including Atlanta where the high is expected to hover below 10C on Tuesday.
"This one happens to be really
big and it's going to dive deep into the continental US and all that cold air
is going to come with it," said Sally Johnson, meteorologist in charge at
the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls.
It's relatively uncommon to have
such frigid air blanket so much of the US, maybe once a decade or every couple
of decades, Maue said. But in the long-run the deep temperature dives are less
meaningful for comparison to other storms than daytime highs that are
below-zero and long cold spells, he said.
And so far, this winter is proving
to be a cold one.
"Right now for the winter we
will have had two significant shots of major Arctic air and we're only through
the first week of January. And we had a pretty cold December," Maue said.
Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/9577237/Polar-vortex-brings-historic-cold-to-USComments:
So, was this a man-made Polar Vortex due to the lack of carbon in the atmosphere ? Does this mean the crooks who buy and sell carbon credits will need a hedge-fund contracts or can they go “short” on the carbon prices ?
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody, GA Tea Party Leader
No comments:
Post a Comment