Polar Vortex Disruption Of January 2013

Satellite imagery of the disruption of the polar vortex in the northern hemisphere winter 2012-2013. The data show a major stratospheric sudden warming (SSW) event, linked to the distortion and reversal of the normal westerly (moving west to east) flow of air.

The large vortex (bright) over the North Atlantic Ocean at the start of the clip breaks up into several smaller vortices. This is due to air from lower latitudes (dark) becoming entrained in the polar flow, forming an anti-cyclonic region (dark, rotating clockwise) over Japan and eastern Russia, which disrupts the flow across the region.

Learn More About The Polar Vortex

Although dramatic, such events are not rare, occurring every two years on average. They can cause winds to reverse near the surface too, leading to very cold spells, especially in North America and Europe.

The brightness indicates the potential vorticity of the air, a measure of its rotation within its flow, at an altitude of 35 kilometers. Brighter regions have more vorticity.

A major SSW occurs when the temperatures in the stratosphere around the pole increases by at least 25 Kelvin within a week, causing the wind to change direction.

The data were gathered by the GEOS-5 satellite every hour between 15th December 2012 and 28th January 2013.

tag yourself: the solar system

mercury: the leader, athletic, friendly, summer vibes, always making plans for the group, organized, impatient, wine lover, reads in their free time

venus: the pretty friend, instagram famous, watches cartoons, very kind, loves skirts and dresses, smart, horrible at money management

earth: the young friend, wears flower crowns, fashionable, probably short as heck, clumsy, lovable, kind of sad inside, idolizes their friends

mars: the mysterious friend, reads comic books, prefers summer over winter, messy hair, lipstick stains on every cup, gardens

jupiter: the mom/dad friend, protective, always drinking but never hungover, loves the outdoors, very patient, has a bad temper if you cross them, collects something

saturn: the powerful friend, will be president someday probably, you want to raid their wardrobe, always has good advice, bad at cooking, loves movies

uranus: the quiet friend, kind of introverted, always laughing, tags you in memes all the time, lurks in the group chat but never responds, dog lover

neptune: the aesthetic friend, doesn’t care what people think, loves art, owns 395754 pairs of jeans, reckless driver, always want to go somewhere

pluto: the smol friend, always busy, loves their friends (will fight for their friends), boy/girl crazy, bottles up their feelings, can never make up their mind, huge smile

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uranus tag meme kinda pluto

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sidusglacies

4 years ago