You may be wondering what is causing all of this abnormally cold weather in portions of the United States. Although this most recent arctic outbreak has been quite strong with record breaking cold temperatures, this is actually a pattern that is established quite often in the winter months. The Polar Vortex is the main culprit. Why is the Polar Vortex so important in deciding the temperature in Iowa?
The Polar Vortex can be looked at as a continually spinning counterclockwise mass of cold air that resides in the Troposphere and Stratosphere of the earth. When this cyclone begins to weaken in strength, the Westerly winds (jet stream) that move across the Continental United States in turn become weaker. If you can imagine these Westerly winds being pulled East by the Polar Vortex and if these Westerly winds are what buffer the United States from the cold Arctic air to our North. When the Polar Vortex weakens..so does our buffer. This allows those frigid temperatures to pour down from the arctic. Naturally this vortex is stronger in the summer and weaker in the winter. The center of the The Arctic Vortex is located over the Baffin Island in Canada. The entire vortex has been known to shift to the South at times such as when this Southward shift caused the 1985 Arctic Outbreak. Of course other things are to blame for cold weather and snow but the Polar Vortex is a big pain in the winter.
Zach Roberts
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