Is burst of polar vortex the culprint behind the abnormal cold weather in US and Canada? Is this linked to the last summer heatwave? Is this alternating severe weather between heatwaves and coldwaves likely to continue under climate change?
The scientists have already explained this new phenomenon which has only started in the last two years, never before in the records.
Air has to go somewhere when there is a difference in atmospheric pressure. This time, hot air from the south is blasted all the way to the north pole, therefore, the air that normally sits around that pole has to move and moves to N. America.
Yesterday was -54 degrees C, but last year we reached - 60.
Under the man-made climate change protocol, if you like, ANYTHING is possible as far as weather goes. As Sir David Attenborough said so many times, we are in for a "bumpy ride" unless people stopped polluting the air, which is unlikely as most people don't understand the weather.
The reason is that the polar vortex which holds artic weather has weakened and cold air is able to plunge southward. While the US and Canada have been in the deep freeze, the rest of the globe has been warmer than normal. The globe as a whole was 0.5 C and the Arctic was more than 3 C warmer than normal, according to the experts.
See https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/extreme-cold-1.4471078 for more details .
I agree with Michael, more fossil fuel burning, more climate change, more anomalies and variability.
Another reason for the dip in the polar vortex was a reaction to a sudden stratospheric warming event that occurred in late December/early January. The warming or strengthening stratospheric high pressure ridge along the west coast of North America translated downward into the troposphere, causing the jet stream and the polar vortex to dive southward over eastern Canada and into the Great Lakes later in January. These sudden stratopsheric warming events are not that uncommon in the winter.
Dear Bob
Yes polar vortex breaks in situation of sudden stratospheric warming.
The problem is that with climate warming, sudden warming event will likely be more frequent will polar vortex weakening and affecting some regions with colder than normal temperature (while the rest of the planet is above normal temp.)
Many papers deal with that issue, see for example the one attached here
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