Winter Comes Back: Return of the Polar Vortex?

Quote:Another bout of painfully cold Arctic air is on its way to the northern United States, reviving talk of what has become popularly known as the "polar vortex."

By Thursday, temperatures will have dropped to as low as 30 degrees Fahrenheit (17 degrees Celsius) below the average temperature for this time of the year, meteorologists say, with highs dipping down into the teens in New York City and into the single digits in Chicago. Average temperatures for this time of year in those regions are generally closer to 45 and 40 F (7.2 and 4.4 C), respectively, said Bernie Rayno, a meteorologist with Accuweather.

While it's not necessarily inaccurate to refer to the event as the "polar vortex," Rayno said, the increased hype around this phrase since January's deep chill has warped people's perceptions of what is actually a fairly common weather phenomenon.

Warmer than average waters in the northeast Pacific for the last several months created a dome of mild high pressure in that area and Alaska, buckling the jet stream and sending gobs of cold air down into the eastern half of the country. As long as the NE Pacific surface temps stay warm, this will simply continue through March and April.

This is crazy. I should put together a ski vacation in Boyne though over spring break. I just can't get over how nuts this winter has been.

(02-24-2014 05:23 PM)Machiavelli Wrote:  This is crazy. I should put together a ski vacation in Boyne though over spring break. I just can't get over how nuts this winter has been.

The weather is about a bipolar as my high school girlfriend was.

I still prefer the weather.

We were up to 78 degrees yesterday (damn global warming) and will see temps below freezing tomorrow evening... Mid to high 70's are the norm around here at this time of year so the polar vortex needs to just go on ahead and go away... I think a 2 mile high wall should be erected from Nebraska to Nevada so all this cold air will divert into Crapifornia.

I'm need to move to Florida, at which point I will then complain incessantly about how hot it is........

Should get no colder than the 40s here.

Insect population should be down in the spring.

Has Tennessee seen the Africanized Hybrid Bees? This deep freeze should do alot of that strain in.

(02-24-2014 06:19 PM)Machiavelli Wrote:  Has Tennessee seen the Africanized Hybrid Bees? This deep freeze should do alot of that strain in.

There is some good news that the Emerald Ash Borer larvae won't survive our redonkulos cold weather this year, giving perhaps a couple extra years of Ash tree canopy here in the Cities.

But it is just a matter of time before they are all gone and our urban tree landscape is bereft of Elm and Ash trees.

This polar vortex coming up doesn't appear to be as strong as in January. Wednesday's high here is 19 and Thursday's is back up to 29 per weather.com. I think this could be setting up a major nor'easter early next month. March seems to be that month of extreme changes too. Can't expect this March to be any different.

Run for the hills!! Something that's always been there is coming back. Oh nooos. It's winter and it's cold. Oh nooooos. Run for the hills!!!

I'm over it. Things were much better when it was global warming I/o climate change. ..

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How much more can man endure?

(02-24-2014 05:23 PM)Machiavelli Wrote:  I just can't get over how nuts this winter has been.

What's been "nuts" about it?

I don't know where you live but in NW Ohio this has been the snowiest year on record. Ask someone who lives in the area what kind of winter it has been. I was playing poker with Robert Shields last Friday Night. His words. "It's one for the record books."

(02-25-2014 08:19 AM)Machiavelli Wrote:  I don't know where you live but in NW Ohio this has been the snowiest year on record. Ask someone who lives in the area what kind of winter it has been. I was playing poker with Robert Shields last Friday Night. His words. "It's one for the record books."

Snow in NW Ohio is now "nuts"?

Huh.

There were days this past winter where Barrow Alaska was warmer than NW Ohio. Yes that is a little odd.

(02-25-2014 08:27 AM)Machiavelli Wrote:  There were days this past winter where Barrow Alaska was warmer than NW Ohio. Yes that is a little odd.

Has that never happened before?

Evidently, it's some big news that the great lakes are frozen over. Saw an interview with some guy and he was like, "Yeah, this is weird, I've never seen this but I remember my parents talking about it". This has all happened before. People just have the internet and 24 hour news coverage to talk about it.

It's -6 out.

I'm so used to it that I don't even wear gloves and a hat anymore. Just a middleweight ski jacket.