Is an extreme cold ahead of us? People are scared by a freezing forecast, this is what our meteorologist claims – Topky.sk

According to meteorologists from the portal Severe Weather we probably have a long and harsh winter ahead of us. And for a very clear reason. A polar vortex has formed above the North Pole, which tends to get closer and closer to Europe. According to them, it is growing every day and is slowly reaching into Europe. If this trend does not change, the Czech Republic, but also Slovakia, will most likely hit. For people, that would mean only one thing – a harsh winter with frosts well below zero.

Source: Getty Images

As they added, we should feel these extremely low temperatures the most in February next year. However, meteorologists from the portal are unable to determine what temperatures they should hit during this period. Nor can they guarantee 100% that the polar vortex will overcome the territory of Central Europe. But is it true? According to meteorologist Pavel Matejovič, it is still very early for such forecasts, but polar beliefs are nothing special.

Source: severe-weather.eu

Unusual situations

“A polar vortex (vortex) is formed around the North Pole every winter, it begins to form in September and lasts there until about April. It occurs in the stratosphere, approximately at an altitude of 15 to 50 km above the earth’s surface and affects the weather even at lower levels in the troposphere (0 to 10 km above the earth’s surface), ” stated for Topky.sk. In other words – v essentially a polar vortex arises when the stratosphere above the North Pole begins to cool. All the clouds are in the lowest layer of the atmosphere, called the troposphere. In the polar regions it reaches an altitude of up to 8 km and above the tropics up to 14-16 km.Above it is a much deeper layer called the stratosphere. It is a very dry layer, about 30 km thick. Here is the ozone layer.

As Matejovič added, in such a belief, the maximum wind speeds occur mainly near the statopause, which is about 50 kilometers above the earth’s surface. He explained that a strong wind current is caused by large temperature differences between the warmer tropical and cold polar stratosphere. “Due to the temperature contrast, a temperature gradient is created and air flows from south to north, but the Coriolis force deflects it to the east. As a result, the speed of the westerly wind increases with increasing altitude, “ Matejovič pointed out.

Source: severe-weather.eu

Extreme frosts in the USA, abnormal heat in Slovakia

According to him, unusual situations occur sporadically in the winter, such as the stratospheric air suddenly warming in the stratosphere. This can cause up to 50 degrees of warming, from -60 to -10 degrees Celsius, or even to zero. “As a result, the polar vortex deforms or destroys, and several separate centers of the winter polar cyclone may occur. It’s a natural process, it’s not unusual. Such a situation occurred during the last winter of 2020/2021, ” Matejovič pointed out that the deformation of the polar vortex can cause the flow to have a meridional character, ie the air will flow in the direction of the meridians from north to south and vice versa.

Source: Reuters

In addition, the flow of warmer air from the Atlantic Ocean to the interior of Europe will be blocked. “In such a situation, very cold, originally Arctic air can penetrate us from the Arctic or Siberia. However, it is important for the development of the weather in winter how long such a flow of cold air lasts, or whether such weather conditions are created that allow the cold air to remain over Europe for a longer period of time. This is the case when the pressure in Central and Eastern Europe remains higher for a long time, “ Matejovič pointed out. He added that during the last winter, such a phenomenon occurred in North America, specifically in the states of Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, where there were record severe frosts.

Source: Pavel Matejovič

This is because very cold continental Arctic air has penetrated from the Arctic and Canada. On the contrary, it has only temporarily cooled in Europe. However, Slovakia experienced another extreme – on February, the temperatures reached up to 20 degrees Celsius, and the last winter ended as above normal. “Deformation of the polar vortex then became more pronounced in the spring, which was cold. At the moment, therefore, it is not possible to predict what effect the possible deformation of the polar vortex during this winter could have on the weather in Europe. We have to wait until November, when the national meteorological services issue a long-term forecast for this winter. ” concluded.