How the polar vortex could deliver one last blast of wintry weather.

A disruption of the vortex could set off a chain reaction reversing the mild weather pattern in a few weeks.

In a year without much winter weather, there’s a chance of a bitter blow before spring takes hold. Experts say a disruption of the polar vortex could unleash cold, stormy conditions to the eastern United States around mid-March.

There are lots of variables at play complicating the forecast, and winter has generally been tamer than many experts expected. But there’s a connection between breakdowns of the polar vortex and episodes of wintry weather in the Lower 48 states.

The stratospheric polar vortex is like a whirlpool of cold swirling over the Arctic. The stronger it is, the faster it spins, and the more bottled up its frigid air remains.

But in about two weeks, weather models indicate the vortex will abruptly weaken and/or collapse. The vortex disruption will be “fairly large,” Judah Cohen, a long-range forecaster at Verisk Atmospheric and Environmental Research, told The Washington Post.'

That means the gyrating eddy of cold air will fill in, heat up and potentially displace frigid air to the lower latitudes.

Depending on where those lobes of Arctic chill go, the stage could be set for at least a one-to-two week period of cold, stormy weather east of the Rocky Mountains by around mid-March.'>>>

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2024/02/22/polar-vortex-winter-spring-forecast/?