With more than 170 million Americans facing below-average temperatures, there could be colder air on the horizon thanks to the displacement of the polar vortex that will lock in the feel of winter and park the coldest air over North America.
In the coming weeks, cold air will continue for parts of the United States thanks to the influence of the polar vortex.
What is the Polar Vortex?
This animation shows what a polar vortex is and where it comes from.
Typically, a strong polar vortex keeps the coldest air locked around the north and south poles. When it weakens, it allows intrusions of cold air into the lower latitudes, and opens a window for cold air to flow into the United States, but what we are facing now is different.
In this case, the polar vortex has been stretched or lengthened rather than significantly weakened. When this happens, the coldest air is not able to consolidate in one region and instead is dispersed over a large area, which leads to prolonged cold periods.
In the current circumstances, the displaced polar vortex will hold the coldest air over North America and bring long periods of cold to the eastern part of the lower 48 until the end of January.
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Looking ahead, forecast guidance suggests that the two lobes of the polar vortex may begin to regroup, strengthening the overall vortex again, acting like a focused reservoir of Arctic air.
In the event that the entire core of the polar vortex moves away from the pole and toward Canada, this creates a “direct channel” for frigid temperatures to flow into the United States.
The first of this vortex-influenced cold will initially build across Canada late next week before driving south into the US as we enter the last week of January.
It remains to be seen how cold it will get, but the greatest likelihood of frigid air will be from the northern Rockies, northern Plains, Great Lakes and Northeast.
So bundle up, the heart of winter is ahead, and it looks like this year, it could be especially frigid.
The extended displacement of the polar vortex that could produce prolonged cold spells for millions of Americans across the Northern Tier comes as a deep winter chill settles in the East.
After a quick thaw in January for most of the lower 48, winter will reemerge with well below average temperatures from the Upper Midwest and stretching into Florida this week.
By Thursday, the jet stream will dip far south and drop temperatures 10 to 20 degrees below average for the entire state, except for Miami, which will stay closer to its seasonal average, according to the FOX Forecast Center.
Friday morning could be the coldest of the week, with freezing temperatures reaching as far south as Jacksonville and Daytona Beach. To provide perspective on the intensity of the cold, Tallahassee is predicted to be 26 degrees; meanwhile, Denver—located 1,630 miles away and at an elevation 5,155 feet higher—is forecast to be 27 degrees that same morning.
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By Thursday, this first shot of arctic air will plunge over 170 million Americans into below-average temperatures. While parts of the Great Lakes and the Northeast will feel the cold, the most significant change will occur in the Southeast; cities like Nashville, Atlanta and Louisville may not even reach 40 degrees for the high in the afternoon.
On Saturday, a second shot of bitter cold air will hit the Upper Midwest, where high temperatures may struggle to reach 10 degrees.
This freeze will persist over the weekend and early next week. To make matters worse, wind chills are expected to drop to -10 to -20 degrees in Minneapolis and Chicago on Sunday.
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Original article source: Polar vortex to fuel dangerous spread of arctic air as coldest temperatures set to linger over US for weeks