Here comes the polar vortex. But what is it? The polar vortex – everyone’s…
Here comes the polar vortex. But what is it?
The polar vortex – everyone’s favorite wintertime whipping boy – is a large area of cold air high up in the atmosphere that normally spins over the North Pole (as its name suggests).
Sometimes, however, thanks to a meandering jet stream, some of the vortex can slosh down into North America, helping to funnel unspeakably cold air down here where we all live.
And it’s not exactly a new phenomenon either, despite how hashtag-friendly it is:
The vortex has likely « existed in some form for the past 4.5 billion years, » according to senior scientist Jeff Kiehl of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.
