The Polar Vortex now collapsing, is set to release the Arctic Hounds for the United States and Europe, as we head for the 2nd half of Winter 2020/2021

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By Andrej Flis | 10 January 2020

SEVERE WEATHER EUROPE — A Polar Vortex collapse sequence has begun in late December 2020, with a major Sudden Stratospheric Warming event on January 5th, 2021. We will look at the sequence of these events, and how they can change the weather in Europe and the United States in the coming weeks.

The main “player” in these weather events, is of course the Polar Vortex. It connects the bottom of the atmosphere (our weather) with the stratosphere above it. A strong exchange of energy between these two layers can heavily disrupt the weather development across the Northern Hemisphere.

WHAT IS THE POLAR VORTEX?

Since knowledge is the key, we will do a quick recap of what exactly is the Polar Vortex.

All of the clouds (and the weather that we feel) are found in the lowest part of the atmosphere called the troposphere. It reaches up to around 8 km (5 miles) altitude over the polar regions and up to around 14-16 km (9-10 miles) over the tropics. […]