It now appears that the 10 millibar layer of the stratosphere has experienced a collapse of the polar vortex.
The above image shows a 6 day observation period of the stratosphere, with the first three days shown on the top half of the image and the most recent three days observed on the bottom half of the multi-panel image. You can see that recently, instead of two areas of yellows and greens, there is now one. These circles of brighter colors show the polar vortex, split into multiple vortices as a result of a phenomenon known as the sudden stratospheric warming.
In a sudden stratospheric warming, warm air is suddenly forced up through the stratosphere at varying degrees. The animation of the 10 millibar layer above (same atmospheric layer as the top image) confirms that we have seen (and continue to observe) a historic sudden stratospheric warming that has broken daily maximum stratospheric records. All that red on the image is unusually warm air. See how it can't be contained in the Arctic and has actually now gone into the East US? That's how strong this warming is.
Now, this collapse has some positive consequences for February, as far as winter prospects go. The collapse of this layer means other layers of the stratosphere are now also more prone to collapse, something we may see in the 20 millibar and 5 millibar layers. However, that's about as bad as it'll get- in the stratosphere. Down here in the troposphere, where we live, cold air is now provoked to move south and may have to spread to lower latitudes. It's a give and take scenario- warm air goes in the stratosphere, thus cold air is displaced down into the troposphere. If we can continue to see weakening (or even collapse) of the polar vortex at other levels, cold air becomes increasingly likely for the end of January into February, and I already have some indicators rooting for a very cold February.
Andrew
The above image shows a 6 day observation period of the stratosphere, with the first three days shown on the top half of the image and the most recent three days observed on the bottom half of the multi-panel image. You can see that recently, instead of two areas of yellows and greens, there is now one. These circles of brighter colors show the polar vortex, split into multiple vortices as a result of a phenomenon known as the sudden stratospheric warming.
In a sudden stratospheric warming, warm air is suddenly forced up through the stratosphere at varying degrees. The animation of the 10 millibar layer above (same atmospheric layer as the top image) confirms that we have seen (and continue to observe) a historic sudden stratospheric warming that has broken daily maximum stratospheric records. All that red on the image is unusually warm air. See how it can't be contained in the Arctic and has actually now gone into the East US? That's how strong this warming is.
Now, this collapse has some positive consequences for February, as far as winter prospects go. The collapse of this layer means other layers of the stratosphere are now also more prone to collapse, something we may see in the 20 millibar and 5 millibar layers. However, that's about as bad as it'll get- in the stratosphere. Down here in the troposphere, where we live, cold air is now provoked to move south and may have to spread to lower latitudes. It's a give and take scenario- warm air goes in the stratosphere, thus cold air is displaced down into the troposphere. If we can continue to see weakening (or even collapse) of the polar vortex at other levels, cold air becomes increasingly likely for the end of January into February, and I already have some indicators rooting for a very cold February.
Andrew