Episode 10: The Polar Vortex – Bitter Cold May Be Unleashed

In this episode of the Weather Whys Podcast, host Ed Oswald explains the intricacies and impacts of the polar vortex, a term that has become part of everyday winter vocabulary. The episode delves into the polar vortex, its functions, and the phenomena of sudden stratospheric warming events that can disrupt it. Oswald distinguishes between minor ... Read more

Episode Transcript

Ed Oswald (00:00):
Welcome to another episode of the Weather Whys Podcast, where we

(00:03):
answer the whys and whats of weather.
I'm your host, Ed Oswald.
Since this is our first episodeof the new year, happy new year.
Have you ever wondered whatall the fuss is about when
it comes to the polar vortex?
Stay tuned because that's whattoday's episode is all about.
A once boring way to describe thebehavior of cold air at our planets

(00:24):
poles has quickly become a part ofour winter lexicon: the polar vortex.
The mere mention of it on the eveningnews brings a sense of dread to some.
But there's also a lot of hype too,so we wanted to give you the facts.
A polar vortex refers to a persistentarea or more accurately, areas...
Of low pressure thatrotate around both poles.

(00:44):
The polar vortex keeps the coldestair locked up in the Arctic during the
winter, but can be disrupted by somethingcalled "sudden stratospheric warming."
It sounds worse than it is.
These events are actually a fairlycommon atmospheric phenomenon, and
it's a process where the stratospherewarms suddenly, causing the
stratospheric polar vortex to weaken.
When this happens, the westerly windsthat blow around the poles in the

(01:05):
stratosphere weaken and can reversedirection in the strongest events.
Scientists classify warming eventsinto two categories, minor and major.
In a minor event, the typicalstratospheric westerly winds
at the poles weaken, but do notcompletely change direction.
The polar vortex is disrupted, butnot displaced, so weather effects
are limited to higher latitudes.

(01:26):
However, in a major event, thesepolar winds reverse direction
entirely, disrupting and occasionallysplitting the polar vortex in two.
Weather it's affected in the middlelatitudes, where the majority
of the human population lives,often featuring bitter cold.
While minor events occur severaltimes a year, major events rarely
occur more than once every two years.
While more than one major eventcan occur in a single season, it's

(01:48):
extremely rare, and can amplifythe cold to historic levels.
So what about all these videoson YouTube right now hyping
the cold that's about to come?
Keep this in mind.
While we understand how thepolar vortex operates, there are
differences in opinion on how itaffects surface weather conditions,
especially during weaker events.
However, during most majorevents, arctic air is pused into

(02:09):
Siberia , often propagating intoNorth America and Northern Europe.
This makes a set of conditionsfairly likely if the polar vortex is
disrupted so that cold air is pushedsouthward towards the United States.
For us, this typically means very coldand dry conditions, but in Northern
Europe, the cold is often accompanied byincreased precipitation and storminess.
Places like England and Irelandsee increased snowfall, which

(02:30):
usually occurs about two to fourweeks after the warming event.
But there have been major events that havenot resulted in those expected conditions,
or where the polar vortex is merelydisrupted and not dislodged resulting
in little effects in the mid-latitudes.
Add to this weather models cannot modelthe stratosphere with the same accuracy
they can at the surface, and our abilityto forecast these events is limited.

(02:51):
Furthermore, the concept ofstratospheric warming only came
about in 1950s, so we don't have alot of data to work with, either.
So, yes, the polar vortex iscoming, and yes, it's probably
going to get really cold.
But at the same time, there'sa lot of fun winter activities
to call it makes possible.
And it's a perfect time to catchup on all that stuff you've been
putting off since the holidays.

(03:12):
Weather Whys is a productionof the Weather Station Experts
and the Weather Whys Company.
Today's episode was produced by DerekOswald and myself from our studios
here in West Lawn, Pennsylvania.
If you'd like to learn more aboutWeather Whys, please visit our website
at weatherwhys that's W H Y S dot show.
Our website has links to thisepisode and past episodes.

(03:33):
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Again, thanks for listening, andas always, stay weather wise.