Santa’s Bringing A Piece Of The Polar Vortex To Town

Hanukkah season began this weekend, and parts of the country are experiencing cold temperatures. However, parts of the central and eastern U.S. have not seen anything yet. We are less than a week out from Christmas Day, and many kids are anticipating the arrival of a visitor from the extreme Arctic region (aka the “North Pole”). There is something other than Santa coming from the Arctic this Christmas too – possibly some of the coldest air in several years.

The National Weather Service (NWS) and other meteorologists are sounding the alarms now. The NWS Weather Prediction Center tweeted the graphic above with the warning, “A frigid Arctic airmass will plunge southward throughout this week, bringing dangerously cold temps & wind chills across the Central & Eastern U.S. As you finish your holiday shopping, take action to protect yourself from the cold.” From the map, you can see that high temperatures on Christmas Eve will 10 to 30 degrees below climatological expectations for that date. Here in Atlanta, the high temperature may not go above the freezing mark. Even places like Miami and Orlando will be well below normal.

Retired (and legendary) South Carolina meteorologist Jim Gandy wrote on his social media page that a few waves of cold air are expected this week, but those are the previews. The main feature is Christmas weekend. He said, “The coldest morning is likely to be Saturday morning (Christmas Eve)….The wind chill will likely be in the 5˚ to 10˚ range.” Gandy also speculated that this could be the coldest weather of the winter season. He noted, “This may be the coldest weather we have seen in five years. The lowest temperature last winter was 19˚F. You have to go back to 2018 to see a temperature colder than that (it was 14˚F).”

Meteorologically, what’s going on? Well, it is winter so cold weather is certainly expected in late December, but these are extremely dangerous temperatures. Part of the explanation is the dreaded “PV” word. Yep, I am about to discuss the Polar Vortex. According to the NWS Weather Prediction Center forecast discussion, “An upper ridge axis near the West Coast and a potent blocking high over Greenland and northeast Canada will provide the means for a lobe of the polar vortex to break off and sink southward across the north-central U.S., and this will herald the arrival of the coldest airmass of the season by far for most locations east of the Rockies.” The discussion also cautions that a cyclone will also develop by the end of the week bring snow, strong winds, and rain to the East Coast region. Cold-weather expert Dr. Judah Cohen just talked about the role of the polar vortex on the winter outlook in a recent episode of the Weather Channel’s podcast Weather Geeks.

For those in the Southeast hoping for a White Christmas, it really depends on where you are. Veteran (and legendary) meteorologist James Spann tweeted the map below over the weekend. It provides the “Euro” model projection of where a White Christmas is most likely in the United States (Sorry Deep South). Irrespective of snow, the expected temperatures will be potentially deadly for humans an pets. It can also be disruptive to our water and heating delivery infrastructure too. So prepare now.