Okay so full disclosure, I’m a bit out of my depth on this one and I think most people will be if you don’t have a degree in Meteorology, but the fact that a massive super chilled vortex high in the atmosphere over the North Pole is spinning at 375mph and could affect global weather patterns if it connects with lower levels is absolutely fascinating,ย SOURCE ARTICLE HERE.

First off here’s a quick explanation of a polar vortex:

Next, we should know that analysis of atmospheric temperatures in the area of 50-90ยฐN latitude are the coldest they’ve been in the 40-year history of the measurements:

“This truly was/is one of the coldest polar vortex peaks in the past 40-60 years. Such cold temperatures enable the development of the Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSC), which are truly a stunning sight to see!”

Temperature is one indicator of the strength of the polar vortex (usually the colder the stronger) but a better estimate of strength is perhaps the actual power, or wind speed of the polar vortex, or the stratospheric polar jet (stronger the polar jet, the more likely it is for the polar vortex to connect down with our weather and influence the weather patterns).

At 10mb (mb=metric unit for pressure) the wind speeds are currently reaching over 400 km/h. But on the top of the stratosphere at 1mb (45km) the wind speeds exceed 600 km/h. Without going into too much detail (FULL ARTICLE HERE) the forecast shows a likely coupling of the tropospheric and stronger stratospheric polar vortex.

What does this mean for us? Well, if you could accurately predict the weather months out you’d have a wildly successful consulting firm on your hands but it’s all conjecture. With that said, the elements are there for a powerful polar vortex event in 2020. We will just have to see if they coalesce and bring a deep freeze to the Northern Hemisphere. MORE INFO HERE. images from noaa.gov & severe-weather.eu