Being from Minneapolis, I know what a cold winter is. I was prepared (as much as I could be, anyway) for a weather shock coming home from Lawrence, and low temps that I’ve grown unfamiliar to from my time at KU did not disappoint me. But I was a little surprised. It seemed a little too cold. I’m used to wind chills in the negative 20’s and 30’s in mid-January but, at least in my memory, Thanksgiving was a bit milder.
According to Paul Huttner, a weather analyst for Minnesota Public Radio, I’m right. In a report given Nov. 25, he said that Minneapolis was projected to have its coldest Thanksgiving in 29 years, with a high of just 13° F.
And Minnesota isn’t the only place affected. Reports of unusually severe snowstorms have come from the East coast, especially in New York and New England over the past weeks. Southern states, which tend to stay warm into the winter months, are reporting temperatures barely above freezing. So what’s happening? Why are we so cold?
The snowfall may be explained by wind patterns as well, according to an article written by Brian Clark Howard for National Geographic, Howard reports that much of the snow we have seen is do to a so-called lake effect, stemming from the Great Lakes.
“The lake-effect snow comes from west-southwesterly winds of a storm aligning neatly with the lengths of Lakes Erie and Ontario, which sit between the American Midwest and Canada,” wrote Jeff Masters, director of Meteorology at Weather Underground in his blog, as quoted in the NatGeo article.
Basically, as cold dry air comes in from Canada and crosses these lakes, which are not yet frozen, the air warms and becomes moister. As it warms, it rises, forcing the moisture to condense and fall as snow. Apparently the most severe snowfall happens about 70 miles inland from the lakes, but smaller-scale effects can be seen for hundred of miles.
Source: http://thephilanews.com/first-major-snowstorm-of-2014-in-philadelphia-an…
Now, for the cold. We all heard about the polar vortex last winter. And although last year was the first time many of us may have heard about it, it is a well-known phenomenon, according to Bernie Rayno, a senior meteorologist for Accuweather.com. This source defines a polar vortex as “a large pocket of very cold air, typically the coldest air in the Northern Hemisphere, which sits over the polar region during the winter season.”
This “pocket” can be pushed from the North Pole down into North America by strong winds, which is what happened last year. It’s possible that this phenomenon is once again occurring, sending us into frigid temps.
But wasn’t that in effect last year, too? Why is it different now? As it turns out, we are seeing, and more importantly feeling, the effects of a super-typhoon in the Pacific Ocean. According to a report by CBS News, in the first days of November, this severe storm had developed its eye near a city in Japan and was classified as a Category 5 hurricane.
Source: http://koin.com/2014/11/04/super-typhoon-nuri-may-cause-shift-in-the-wea…
Masters wrote in his Weather Underground blog that this super-typhoon warmed water near Alaska, causing a “ripple effect” of a jet stream that was already causing pressure differences across the western and eastern United States. Apparently, these wind patterns allow cold air from the arctic to creep in, causing our temperatures to plummet.
So buckle up, because it’s going to be a cold one. And looking down the barrel of a second year of the polar vortex, it’s not looking to let up any time soon. Stay warm, and plan accordingly. And remember that even while you are outside cursing God, fate or whatever or whomever you may choose to blame for your cold misfortune, that this is part of beautiful system: a cold, snowy, sometimes miserable, fascinating beautiful meteorological system. Science really is all around.