US weather: Polar vortex to ‘bring life-threatening cold’ to mountain states after winter storms and lethal floods

Polar vortex [credit: NASA]

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Goodbye to the claimed ‘world’s hottest’ January. Winter bites back, still plenty of very cold air coming from the Arctic.
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Extreme weather and life-threatening cold temperatures are set to hit western states near the Rocky Mountains – after severe flooding killed at least 10 people in the eastern US over the weekend, says Sky News.

The National Weather Service’s (NWS) weather prediction centre said a winter storm tracking from the Central Plains to the Mid-Atlantic is expected to strike later this week.

On Tuesday, temperatures in northeastern Montana are predicted to dip as low as -42.7C, along with a wind chill that could reach -51C.

Elsewhere, the weather service said wind chill temperatures as low as -45.6C were expected in most of North Dakota, which remained under an “extreme cold warning,” along with large parts of South Dakota and Minnesota.

It marks the 10th – and coldest – polar vortex this season so far, with pressure systems pushing cold air from the Arctic southwards into North America and Europe.

What is a polar vortex?

The polar vortex is a large area of low pressure and cold air surrounding both of the Earth’s poles and refers to the counter-clockwise flow of air that helps keep the colder air near the poles.

This occurs regularly during winter and is often associated with large outbreaks of Arctic air in the US.

In a post on social media, the NWS said the weather system “will produce a swath of both heavy and disruptive snowfall”.

Full article here.
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Image: Polar vortex [credit: NASA]