Some parts of the United States are currently suffering from “polar vortex” with temperatures expecting to plunge to their lowest levels for 20 years and almost half of the population were trapped.
According to the US weather bureau, the wind chill from the rare climatic phenomena could make it feel as cold as -60 Fahrenheit (-51 Celsius). The National Weather Service described the weather as “life-threatening,” while the Weather Prediction Center warned of a “dangerously cold air m(–foul word(s) removed–).”
What is a Polar Vortex?
A “polar vortex” is a persistent, large-scale cyclone. They are usually found either the north or south poles – it is rare for them to swing as far as to affect densely-inhabited areas.
Wind sweep around the area at 100mph, typically trapping the cold air in the Arctic. But when the polar vortex splits apart, it can fling the cold air far afield.
Cold air is dense so once it is released it travels a long way and that is why it is penetrating so far southwards, John Hammond from the BBC Weather Centre says.
According to the Weather Channel the United States should be prepared for an imminent “blast of brutally cold air.”
Facts about the Polar Vortex 2014:
- A Polar Vortex Was the Basis of the Plot of the Hollywood Movie ‘The Day After Tomorrow’
- The City of Indianapolis has banned driving during the Polar Vortex.
- The stratospheric polar vortex is a large-scale region of air that is contained by a strong west-to-east jet stream that circles the polar region.
- The polar vortex extends from the tropopause (the dividing line between the stratosphere and troposphere) through the stratosphere and into the mesosphere (above 50 km).
- Nearly 187 million people, more than half of the nation’s population, were under a wind chill warning or advisory Monday.
- Nearly 3,200 flights — one out of every 10 domestic departures — were canceled Monday morning, following a weekend of travel disruption across the country. The bulk of those cancellations were in Chicago, Cleveland, New York and Boston.
- The Vortexes rarely travels away from the Earth’s pole.
