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The Polar Vortex and Extreme Weather: The Beast from the East in Winter 2018

Journal Article · · Atmosphere (Basel)
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [5];  [6]
  1. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Seattle, WA (United States). Pacific Marine Environmental Lab. (PMEL); OSTI
  2. Bristol Univ. (United Kingdom). School of Geographical Sciences
  3. Univ. of Lincoln (United Kingdom). School of Geography and Lincoln Centre for Water and Planetary Health
  4. Finnish Meteorological Inst. (FMI), Helsinki (Finland)
  5. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Seattle, WA (United States). Pacific Marine Environmental Lab. (PMEL); Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States). Joint Inst. for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean
  6. Finnish Meteorological Inst. (FMI), Helsinki (Finland); Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States). International Arctic Research Center and Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences
+ Show Author Affiliations
Public attention has recently focused on high-impact extreme weather events in midlatitudes that originate in the sub-Arctic. We investigate movements of the stratospheric polar vortex (SPV) and related changes in lower atmospheric circulation during the February-March 2018 “Beast from the East” cold winter event that dramatically affected much of Europe and north-central North America. This study demonstrates that the movement of the SPV is a key linkage in late winter subarctic and northern midlatitude extreme weather events. February–March 2018 saw two types of subarctic-midlatitude weather connections. In the first type, the SPV was displaced from the pole to lower latitudes over North America in February and then was found over northern Siberia in March. Mid-February and mid-March are examples of persistent near vertically aligned geopotential height structures of the atmospheric circulation. These structures over North America and Eurasia advected cold Arctic air southward. The second type of cold surface event was associated with a weak regional SPV and a sudden stratospheric warming event over Europe during the second half of February. These late winter linkage events that arise through dynamic instabilities of the SPV are more common in the last decade, but the potential role of enhanced Arctic amplification is uncertain.
Research Organization:
Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0020640
OSTI ID:
1803980
Journal Information:
Atmosphere (Basel), Journal Name: Atmosphere (Basel) Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 11; ISSN 2073-4433; ISSN ATMOCZ
Publisher:
MDPICopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Arctic
polar vortex
potential vorticity
severe weather