What is the polar vortex? It’s a wintertime mainstay capable of flooding Canada with some of the world’s coldest air It’s a pattern responsible for holding back the coldest temperatures on the planet. The lowest readings ever recorded in Canada and ...
Known as watermelon snow or blood snow because of its hue, the reddish color is actually a result of a species of algae called Chlamydomonas nivalis. It turns this pigment due to tiny dormant cysts becoming more concentrated as the snow melts during periods of intense sunlight. This type of ...
What Is This Polar Vortex That Is Freezing the U.S.?Mark Fischetti
Forecasters expect La Niña to form in the coming months, but what does that mean for Texas?What is La Niña?According to NOAA, La Niña is the cooler phase of a weather pattern known as El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) with El Niño being the warmer phase. La Niña develo...
A polar vortex can quickly send mild winter weather into dangerous negative temperatures. Learn everything you need to know about the dreaded polar vortex.
What is causing Arctic Blast? A disruption of the polar vortex, a whirlpool of cold air and low pressure whirring above the Arctic, caused the icy eddy to split into two. A strong polar vortex minds its own business, rotating furiously and bottling up cold air to the north. ...
When it warms up, snow melts and flows downstream. When this mixes with heavy rain, rivers can overflow and cause flooding. The Mississippi River overflowed in the spring of 2019,causing flood deaths in the Midwest. Why does global warming make blizzards stronger?
When it warms up, snow melts and flows downstream. When this mixes with heavy rain, rivers can overflow and cause flooding. The Mississippi River overflowed in the spring of 2019,causing flood deaths in the Midwest. Why does global warming make blizzards stronger?
That last sentence is the one to pay attention to – that’s us here in Indiana. That map below indicates that we can expect a “muggy and stormy” summer. That may not be the case for those of us in Southern Indiana, though. The border between Indiana and Kentucky starts to transitio...
The jet stream getting nudged south by a disrupted polar vortex.Credit: nws / noaa Tweet may have been deleted Sometimes the weakening of the polar vortex can be extreme, leading to an event with a somewhat dramatic name, though the event is normal. It's called "sudden stratospheric warming...