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Eugene

(61,593 posts)
Tue Dec 18, 2018, 10:31 AM Dec 2018

Polar vortex could unleash winter wallop by January

Source: Washington Post

Polar vortex could unleash winter wallop by January

By Jason Samenow
December 17 at 3:47 PM

-snip-

The polar vortex, the roaring river of air winding around the North Pole, holds the cards. What they reveal could be very disturbing and a harbinger of extreme winter weather in the Eastern United States.

Judah Cohen, a climate researcher at Atmospheric and Environmental Research, monitors the condition of the vortex, every day checking the latest prediction models for any sign of disturbance. He is concerned about what some models are projecting at the end of December or early January.

When the vortex, perched some 60,000 feet high in the atmosphere, is stable, winter conditions over the United States and Europe tend to be rather ordinary. Winter is still winter, with the normal mix of storms, cold snaps and thaws.

But when the vortex is disrupted, an ordinary winter can suddenly turn severe and memorable for an extended duration. “(It) can affect the entire winter,” Cohen said in an interview.

-snip-

Cohen shares insights on the state of the polar vortex on his blog and Twitter feed. Last week, he tweeted: “Confidence is growing in a significant #PolarVortex disruption in the coming weeks. This could be the single most important determinant of the weather this #winter across the Northern Hemisphere.”

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2018/12/17/polar-vortex-could-unleash-winter-wallop-by-january/

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Polar vortex could unleash winter wallop by January (Original Post) Eugene Dec 2018 OP
We could sure use a few weeks of 2naSalit Dec 2018 #1

2naSalit

(86,048 posts)
1. We could sure use a few weeks of
Tue Dec 18, 2018, 12:37 PM
Dec 2018

sustained subzero temps out here in the west! Our forests are being devoured by bark beetles of various types and the onl way for them to be killed off is by sustained subzero temps for at least a week or two. Our forests are not healthy and part of it is because of the beetle infestation. But that is the result of damming up the Columbia River and preventing the salmon from returning to the Rocky Mountains where they deposit nutrients derived from the ocean. Without that regular feeding for the inland forests, diseases infiltrate and destroy them... and that's what we have now, less than 100 years after the dams were built.

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