As a polar vortex rips through America, train tracks are ablaze and door hinges are freezing indoors. Yet amidst this icy mayhem is fascinating atmospheric science. Just how does frigid air from the Arctic become displaced by hundreds and even thousands of miles? Here are a few of the best visualizations revealing the origins and monumental planetary scale of this extreme weather event.
What’s the recipe for a polar vortex? In the winter of 2018-19, the vortex of counter-clockwise winds that normally lock arctic air in the poles split in half.
This disruption let warmer air move north, making way for a whoosh of winter to obliterate some Americans hopes of never having to experience a -60 degree day. Stratospheric filaments stretching high into the atmosphere can swing loose, leading the way for stinging cold and extreme winds. Serra et al.’s “Uncovering the Edge of the Polar Vortex” in the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences reveals an astounding 3-D view of the now familiar polar vortex.
Perturbations, shown below in red, reveal the filamentation whereby icy fingers seem to reach out from the poles and grasp the northern hemisphere.
The vortex may yet be most intuitive to visualize when shown as a flat animation atop our globular planet. To that end, Joshua Stevens of the NASA Earth Observatory produced an animation showing a swoop of boreal winds carrying Arctic vibes into middle latitudes.
Feeling a need to click around and zoom? Explore the polar vortex at various altitudes and through a number of atmospheric lenses using Cameron Beccario’s Earth.
If you still want more, check out this wonderful interactive vortex piece from the New York Times. Stay warm out there!
