A piece of the polar vortex has decided to pay NYC a visit in the days leading up to Christmas. Its arrival will kickstart the development of a powerful storm which will bring rain, wind and a arctic cold front to our area over the next few days.
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The periphery of a piece of the polar vortex (an important distinction) made its presence felt in the New York City area on Wednesday and Thursday, with intense snow squalls and bitter cold temperatures. The low temperature in New York City dropped to 2 F on Thursday morning, the coldest of the season thus far and the coldest since February of 2016.
The airmass will remain bitterly cold over the next 24-36 hours, as arctic air remains overhead. It will begin to shift out of the region by the weekend, however, and the airmass will feel downright tropical by the time we approach Saturday. High temperatures will swing back towards normal by that time, a far cry from the 30 or more degrees below normal which we’ve been basking in.
The polar vortex, which paid us a quick visit just this past Monday, is expected to make its triumphant return to the United States next week. This time, it will be more organized, stronger, and bring with it a large swath of abnormal and potentially record-breaking cold.
The polar vortex, as a whole, remains one of the most misunderstood (and overhyped) features in meteorology. You may recall the last time the term Polar Vortex went “viral”, back in 2014. It was a media frenzy – the polar vortex was coming to invade the United States and we were all going to be taken away with it.
The Polar Vortex is coming, and when it arrives it’s going to freeze you, your house, and everything around you – taking you back to the Arctic from where it came. Kidding. Ah, it has been a while since we’ve had to really dive into this. As a meteorologist, these are exciting times. The atmosphere is getting ready to put on a bit of a show, and the community is starting to pick up on it. You may recall the last time the term Polar Vortex went “viral”, back in 2014. It was a media frenzy – the polar vortex was coming to invade the United States.
You may also recall the reality of it – it was cold, and in some places it was snowy – and anomalously so. The truth is that the polar vortex is not unheard of, unthinkable, or unfathomed. It is not new, and it is not appearing for the first time since 2014. It is, however, a very neat atmospheric feature, and it deserves our full attention. It affects the weather greatly, and its positioning and intensity throughout the Winter months is a critical component of many forecasts.