How a Polar Vortex Disruption Will Cause Wild Weather in Maine, Massachusetts, & New Hampshire

Over the last few days, we have had to deal with some bitterly cold weather across parts of Maine and New Hampshire.

Yes, we all know that winter in New England often leads to freezing temperatures, but this is different.  It feels like we are getting these deepfreeze conditions a lot earlier than we normally do.

As one person pointed out during a conversation about the weather, we normally don't get these temperatures until the middle of January.  Or, as she put it, "These are January temps!"

Apparently, these early freezing temperatures are being caused by a disruption in the Polar Vortex.

If you are not a fan of frigid temperatures, I have some bad news for you.  Meteorologists are saying we'll continue to see cold snaps over the next few weeks and the future cold snaps could be a lot more brutal than the one we are getting now.

According to an article on the Maine Public website, the polar vortex sits way up in the stratosphere about thirty miles above the Earth.

Late in November, something rare happened.  A sudden stratospheric warming basically snapped the polar vortex on.  At the same time, a big high pressure ridge over Alaska started pushing Arctic air straight into the northern states, Maine included.

Dr. Amy Butler with the NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory said we will probably notice even bigger effects from this disruption over the next week or two.

She explained that this strange early event in November is one of only three ever recorded since scientists started tracking them in 1958. The last one happened in 1968. She added that the polar vortex usually hits its peak at the end of December or right at the start of January, and researchers are trying to figure out whether or not these early events will become more common.

Dr. Butler also said a lot of people think the polar vortex is arriving when really what they are noticing is the burst of cold air that comes after the vortex is disrupted.