Christmas is just around the corner and Santa Claus has brought an early gift to big parts of the United States — frigid, bitterly low temperatures. Plunging temperatures have wreaked havoc across the US, placing more than 135 million people under weekend weather alerts and causing widespread travel chaos.
Weather experts have said that a major winter storm and cold blast will impact nearly every state and bring what the National Weather Service is calling a “once in a generation type event”. Weather experts have already issued alerts stretching from coast to coast and reaching as far south as the US-Mexico border and the ‘Sunshine State’ of Florida.
Forecasters have predicted that temperatures could fall to -45 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country, with some adding that this cold snap could bring the iciest Christmas in decades. Additionally, in major metro areas, such as Des Moines, Iowa, frostbite would be a major danger.
On Thursday, President Joe Biden cautioned Americans to take the widespread “dangerous and threatening” winter storm seriously and to listen to warnings from local officials. “This is really a very serious weather alert here. And it goes from Oklahoma all the way to Wyoming, and Wyoming to Maine. And it is a real consequence. So I encourage everyone, everyone please heed the local warnings,” Biden said.
The US president added, “It’s like not like a snow day, you know, like when you were a kid. This is serious stuff.
“And my team is prepared to help communities weather this, no pun intended, this storm and this freeze,” he said.
What’s behind this extreme weather?
The biggest culprit behind this winter storm is an extremely cold air mass moving in from the Arctic. Experts state that the polar vortex descending on the US is serious, with Jonathan Martin, a professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, telling The Verge, “You won’t see the like of this kind of a storm probably another time in the next 25 or so years. It’s really intense, and in some locations, the impacts will be extraordinary.”
So, what is a polar vortex?
The polar vortex is a large circulation of low pressure and cold air that forms every winter in the stratosphere above the North and South poles. The term vortex refers to the counter-clockwise flow of air that helps keep colder air close to the poles. Sometimes during winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the polar vortex will become less stable and disrupt the polar jet stream circulating in the same direction miles below the vortex — thus sending cold Arctic air southward over the United States.
Experts claim that these disruptions in the vortex are taking place due to the Arctic warming. As Judah Cohen, a climate scientist at Atmospheric and Environmental Research, a weather-risk assessment firm in Lexington, Massachusetts explained: The warmer conditions create larger and more energetic atmospheric waves that make the jet stream wavier, with greater peaks and troughs. That affects the polar vortex circulation.
Meteorologists also fear that this weather phenomenon is a perfect recipe for an intensifying cyclone with fierce gales. The storm is expected to intensify quickly enough to be considered a “bomb cyclone”.
The term “bomb cyclone” comes from the meteorological term “bombogenesis” or “explosive cyclogenesis.” According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it’s a fast-developing storm that occurs when atmospheric pressure drops at least 24 millibars over a 24-hour period.
John Gyakum, a meteorologist at McGill University in Canada and a co-author of a 1980 study that described the key characteristics of bomb cyclones told the Wall Street Journal, “As the central pressure falls rapidly, by extension there will also be an explosive intensification of the wind speeds.”
In many instances, a ‘bomb cyclone’ can create heavy winds, blizzard conditions — heavy snow that can possibly reduce visibility — and rainfall. Mike Bettes, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel, said, “In the winter, you can experience intense snowfall as well as extreme winds. It usually leads to very hazardous travel conditions with blowing and drifting snow and poor visibility. Airlines will often cancel flights as the conditions are too risky to fly. High winds can often lead to widespread power outages.”
How bad is the situation and will it get worse?
Millions of people across the US have been put on wind chill alerts and governors across 12 states have enacted emergency measures and cold weather protocols.
More than 5,300 flights in the US have already been cancelled on Thursday and Friday, according to the flight-tracking site FlightAware. Airlines such as United, Delta and American have also offered to waive fees for those who wish to reschedule their flights.
At Chicago’s O’Hare airport, snow and ice is causing delays averaging 159 minutes, according to a notice from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Authorities have been advised people to stay indoors and not travel as the conditions could make roads dangerous. Amtrak, which is America’s passenger rail system, has cancelled dozens of trains through Christmas, disrupting holiday travel for tens of thousands.
The US transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, told MSNBC: “We had a great Thanksgiving week with minimal disruption. Unfortunately, it’s not going to be that way going into Christmas.”
How to stay safe?
With forecasters predicting conditions to worsen, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have stated that people should ensure that they don’t stay in cold rooms and have adequate warm clothing.
Ensure that homes are adequately heated and leave water taps slightly open to prevent freezing pipes. The CDC has also advised people to eat well-balanced meals to stay warm and avoid alcohol and caffeine, as they can cause a body to lose heat more rapidly.
The CDC and National Weather Service have also issued an advisory for people who have to step outdoors. It has asked people to dress warmly and wear layers. Further, people have been advised to avoid walking on ice and getting wet.
People have also been asked to keep pets indoors during the cold weather, but if they do go outside, to wipe their legs and underbelly free of snow when returning indoors.
With inputs from agencies
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