Aleutian ridge, cross polar flow will lead to more wintry pattern
A pattern change discussed for several weeks is already underway, and will kick into high gear over the next several days. A much discussed ridge over Alaska will build northward later this week towards the North Pole. We call this a “poleward reaching” ridge — effectively named — as it develops towards the Arctic and polar regions from the North Pacific and Alaska. This is important for several reasons; but mainly because it helps to dislodge cold air which is typically bottled up in the arctic regions.
The ridge north of Alaska will continue to build this weekend into early next week — a very anomalous feature, even globally — and cold air will surge southward on its east end into the West and Central United States. This very same cold will eventually seep eastwards towards the Ohio Valley and East Coast. It won’t come all at once, in fact it likely will be in multiple rounds, but the cold will be anomalous.