Polar Vortex to Make Third Unwanted Appearance in Midwest, East

Polar Vortex to Make Third Unwanted Appearance in Midwest, East

Here comes the polar vortex one more time to remind the Midwest and eastern United States that winter is not quite over.

Weather prognosticators are saying that signs point to a third appearance of the dreaded polar vortex to hit sometime in the middle of the last week of February.

Long range forecasting expert Mark Paquette says that a “sudden stratospheric warming” took place on Feb. 6 and 7 and this sudden warming could initiate the similar chain of events that gave us previous cold snaps.

“In addition to the exact timing of the cold outbreak is you never know for sure initially which continent the cold air will be directed,” Paquette said, “This time it appears it will take aim at the eastern part of North America.”

Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist for Accuweather.com, says that single digit temps are headed to the areas already hit by previous waves of subzero weather.

“There is the potential for high temperatures to be in the single digits and teens during a several-day stretch from Chicago to Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo, N.Y.,” Sosnowski reported. “Farther south, from St. Louis to Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York City, highs may wind up in the teens and lower 20s, if the cold air drives forcefully to the south and east.”

This weather pattern may also kick up one big storm or a series of them on the east coast. Residents of the upper Atlantic coast and the Appalachians to the west should prepare for difficult travel conditions and other disruptions, Sosnowski says.

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