Breaking News!
The Polar Vortex is coming! The Polar Vortex is coming!
Except.... NOT a Polar Vortex.
The Polar Vortex is a large area of low pressure and cold air surrounding both of the Earth’s poles. It always exists near the poles, but strengthens in winter. At the North Pole it centers over the pole, but is usually two separate entities, one generally over Siberia and one generally over Greenland, both working in tandem. Many times during winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the polar vortex will weaken and expand, sending cold air southward with the jet stream. But just because the jet stream dips southward down into the US doesn't mean it's a polar vortex. That's technically called an "arctic blast." In order for it to be a polar vortex event, part of the vortex needs to break off and be carried down with the jet stream. That's not happening now, nor will it happen next week. A weather map of the poles makes that very clear. But the media is all up in it, just the same.
The NWS and NOAA (and a barometric pressure map, if you know how to read it) will tell you when there's a polar vortex event. The Weather Channel, AccuWeather and every other private weather service will tell you whatever you need to hear to keep you staying tuned.
We had a polar vortex event in January 2014, which is when everybody started using the term in place of "bitterly cold OMG." The most recent genuine, actual polar vortex events prior to 2014 occurred in 1989, 1985, 1982, and 1977. So while it's not a new phenomenon, it happens far less frequently than, you know, winter.
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