ARCTIC (POLAR) VORTEX- A Wind that shook Northern US

What is a polar Vortex?

The polar vortex is a large, long-term cyclone that exists between the
troposphere and the stratosphere (between about 6,000 feet and
40,000 feet) over the poles of most planets centred on a low pressure
area-that keeps extreme cold bottled up.
The Arctic vortex has two centres, one near Baffin Island and the other
over northeast Siberia.

Characteristics:

Strengthen during winter and weaken during summer.

Steep pressure gradients.
Mainly occurs during winter, which helps to create cold stratosphere.
Spans large area (~1000 km radius).
Flows from west to east.

2 states of polar vortex

Strong Polar Vortex
This is the more common state of the polar vortex.
This creates strong low pressure in the Arctic region- Because of
the pressure difference between the Arctic and midlatitudes, air flows into low pressure and this confines the
cold air to high latitudes closer to the Arctic.
Therefore it is often not much cold across the Eastern US,
Europe and East Asia during winters when the polar vortex is
strong.
During strong polar vortex, the air flow is fast and in a direction from
west to east.
Low pressure in the Arctic region is referred to as the positive
phase of the Arctic Oscillation (AO), which is also known as the
North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO).

Weak Polar Vortex

When the polar vortex is weak or perturbed, the flow of air is
weaker and meanders north and south (rather than west to
east).
This allows a redistribution of air masses where cold air from
the Arctic spreads into the mid-latitudes and warm air from
the subtropics is carried into the Arctic. This mixing of air
masses also favours more storms and snow in the midlatitudes.

 During a weak polar vortex, high pressure occurs in the Arctic

region and is referred to as the negative phase of the Arctic
Oscillation (AO).
Air flows away from the high pressure Arctic. The north to south
direction of the polar vortex carries cold Arctic air into the midlatitudes of Eastern US, Europe and East Asia.

Therefore it is cold across the Eastern US, Europe and East

Asia during winters when the polar vortex is weak.

How it is shifted to low latitudes? (As now it shifted to

US)
Normal condition:
The polar vortex will be strong.
The other high pressure area and the jet stream used to sit
consistently below the Arctic - locks the polar vortex from moving
further down the south (i.e.) keeping cold air north of it and
warmer air south.
The sub polar low pressure and subtopic high pressure will be
strong.

Present condition:
The polar vortex is weak.
The Jetstream got wavier (see the pic below) and hence cant be
predicted correctly.
Due to global warming, there is a net increase in temperature in the
polar region-due to this the difference between the
temperature in polar and mid-latitudes is considerably
reduced.
The sub polar low pressure and subtopic high pressure is
weak.

Consequence of the present condition: is the cold polar

vortex shifting to the south towards equator.
The Jetstream margin is moved downwards towards the Equator
Due to excess heat the moisture in the polar region increases
which causes instability to the vortex.
Due to the instability, Redistribution of air masses where cold
air from the Arctic spreads into the mid-latitudes and warm
air from the subtropics is carried into the Arctic.
Sometimes the polar vortex can either be forced well south of
its typical position, or a significant piece of the larger spin can
break off the vortex.
After break off it gains direction as explained below:

The break off causes the vortex to enter the region of great
lakes-pass in the south-west direction.
Why it has not entered the Atlantic Ocean directly?

 High pressure in the atmosphere near Greenland, referred to as a

Greenland block, effectively keeps cold, Canadian air from
sweeping into the North Atlantic Ocean. Instead, it is forced
south into the U.S., often entering US through Florida and
pass to the parts of the northern Caribbean.

Relation between ozone depletion and polar vortex

The Ozone hole occurs when the Sun first appears after the long
polar night. Steps involved in occurring are:

Separation of polar air mass: During Polar Winter, a polar

vortex forms and the polar air mass in the stratosphere which is
separated from other air masses.
Reduction in temperature: The temperature drops steeply,
ultimately leads to the stratospheric air trapped in the vortex
becoming very cold it becomes coldest air in any part of the
Earth's stratosphere.
Formation of HCl ice crystals: In this cold vortex, polar
stratospheric ice crystal clouds form. Gas phase HCl dissolves in
the surfaces or clings to the surfaces of the clouds.
CFC reaction with HCl ice: The CFC's react with the HCl ice,
converting relatively unreactive chlorine to the more active species,
Cl2, ClONO2, and HOCl.
CFC + HCl -------> very highly active { Cl2 +
ClONO2 + HOC l}.
Separation of Chlorine atoms: At sunrise, the chlorine-bearing
compounds are exposed to sunlight in summer, it releases the
highly reactive Cl atoms.

Attacking of ozone (O3) by chlorine atoms: chlorine reacts

with O3 to give out O2 which is normal oxygen. Thus the ozone is
replaced with normal oxygen
Ozone + chlorine ------>normal oxygen + ClO
Ozone densities drop rapidly, till the polar vortex breaks up.

Name: Abinesh kumar

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_vortex
http://www.physics.otago.ac.nz/space/AARDDVARK_NOx_background.htm
http://weather.aol.com/2014/01/11/when-will-the-polar-vortex-return/
http://greenanswers.com/question/what-polar-vertex/
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2014/01/06/what-is-this-polarvortex-that-is-freezing-the-u-s/
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/2014/01/07/declining-arctic-snowcover-is-bad-news-for-polar-vortex/
http://www.wunderground.com/news/polar-vortex-plunge-science-behind-arcticcold-outbreaks-20140106
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/polar-vortex-analysis-the-arcticwinds-that-brought-cold-air-and-chaos-southwards-9042426.html
http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/25423
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-07/polar-vortex-created-by-arcticwarming-north-american-cooling