The Polar Vortex Is Spinning Backwards
17 hours ago Guest Blogger 32 Comments
From spaceweather.com
by spaceweather.com team
Earlier this month, atmospheric scientists noticed something unusual in the Arctic stratosphere. The polar vortex was spinning backward.
“The vortex changed direction around March 4th,” reports Dr. Amy Butler, author of NOAA’s Polar Vortex Blog. “It was a substantial reversal, reaching -20.5 m/s a few days ago, which puts it in the top 6 strongest such events since 1979.”
Two weeks later, it is still spinning backwards. What’s going on?
“Atmospheric planetary waves have been breaking in the polar stratosphere, increasing its temperature,” says Butler. “We call this a ‘Sudden Stratospheric Warming‘ event, and it can cause the vortex to change direction.'”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/03/21/the-polar-vortex-is-spinning-backwards/
