Polar Vortex

[Flower]

Polar vortex brings most extreme winter weather in years

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/polar-vort ... -in-years/

From wind chills near 60 below zero in the Upper Midwest to an ice storm all the way to the Gulf Coast, it is rare that winter weather gets this extreme. The culprit is a polar vortex teaming up a very active jet stream.

That means cold, snow and ice for hundreds of millions of Americans.

On Saturday, more than two-thirds of the nation was under some kind of winter weather alert running the gamut from wind chill warnings in the northern Plains to winter storm warnings for the Pacific Northwest. There were also winter weather advisories in South Texas and ice storm warnings in the Mid-Atlantic.

A few weeks ago, the polar vortex, which is typically located near the North Pole, broke into pieces — a natural occurrence that happens every couple of winters. Smaller daughter vortices scattered around the Northern Hemisphere, bringing pockets of Arctic air to Siberia, Europe and North America.

For the past week, one of the daughter vortices has set up shop, spinning near the U.S.-Canada border. As a result, temperatures have been frigid, at times dropping below -40 degrees Fahrenheit, but the coldest of air has been confined to the far northern U.S. That's about to change as lobes of the vortex rearrange its orientation, sending cold air south.

Over the coming days the vortex will act as a catapult, slingshotting systems around it's circulation, day after day, from coast to coast. As storms wind up, it will progressively draw the cold air further south.

[Flower]

Toronto was having a mild winter until ....

The polar vortex will leave us soon, but don't put your parka away just yet

https://www.ctvnews.ca/climate-and-envi ... -1.5308673


TORONTO -- We have good news for the many parts of Canada that are still struggling through unusually and even historically cold temperatures: The end is in sight.

Yes, spring is still nearly five weeks away – but according to Environment Canada senior climatologist Dave Phillips, it won't even take one week for most of the country to see a big warmup.

"There is light at the end of the tunnel," Phillips said Sunday on CTV News Channel.

Much of Canada has spent the past two weeks under a polar vortex – the term given to cold air from the Arctic pushing much farther south than usual due to a weakened jet stream.

The vortex helped create the coldest temperature recorded anywhere in Canada in nearly four years. A temperature of -51.9 C was recorded in Wekweeti, N.W.T. on Feb. 7.

The effects haven't stopped at the treeline, though, or even at the Canada-U.S. border. Phillips said the vortex has "covered a good chunk of North America … from British Columbia to the Yukon down to Mississippi."

[Dr. Baron]

This has turned out to be a absolute disaster in Texas. All 254 counties in the state have been subject to winter storm conditions. We've been below freezing where I am for about 115 hours now (though hopefully it will get above freezing this afternoon). The State's electricity grid (and the agency that runs it) was not up to the task of dealing with this rare winter demand and millions have been without power for days now (some without water as well), in houses that weren't built for this sustained, bitter cold. The electric utilities (who distribute the energy locally) have been unable to distribute the blackouts on a rolling basis because (apparently) the massive gap between supply and demand, so people who have been without power are stuck, and people with it are (hopefully) using as little as possible and expecting it to be cut at any minute. This morning saw an ice storm, so there should be additional power outages due to trees falling on power lines and the like. We're expecting snow tomorrow, and then a massive thaw beginning Friday. Of course, because the houses aren't built for this (and homeowners don't know what to do) there will be huge property destruction from bursting pipes . . . we had a handful freeze up that we couldn't really attend to (while wasting hundreds of gallons of water keeping every tap dripping, including three outdoor taps), but they appear to have come unfrozen now that the temperatures are closer to the freezing line (rather than well below it).

And, of course, though our State has been controlled by very conservative Republicans since the mid-90s, our politicians (who know the truth) are on national media, blaming "green energy" (and Texas's apparent zeal for the Green New Deal I guess?) for the inadequate infrastructure they've specifically designed through the past decades that incentivizes profits over stability.

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/16 ... 7ff40e213a

We've been lucky to have power throughout the time, though we're running our thermostat lower than we would, unplugging everything known to man, and trying to limit our electricity use as much as possible. Though it's my ideal January/February weather, it's been pretty stressful all the same. But that's nothing. There are plenty of families burning their possessions to keep their kids warm and scores and scores of people already traumatized by a year of the pandemic and the rest. And, of course, because of the pandemic, people can't just open their houses to people they know without power. There is gut wrenching human tragedy all over the State, especially in our very blue cities (it's nice to see lefties on Twitter painting Texas with a broad brush, punching down, and suggesting that people of all sorts somehow deserve this---almost as great as seeing the right lay this on the door of the green new deal).

Unmitigated disaster.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/16/us/t ... tages.html

[Mike Boom]

Been without power for 62 hours now
Thank God we have a gas fire, have the sofa pushed up by the fire to keep warm

[Belle Lettre]

Staggering. All the best, everyone affected!

[Minnie the Minx]

Been without power for 62 hours now
Thank God we have a gas fire, have the sofa pushed up by the fire to keep warm

Jeeees. Hope you get power back soon, love.

[Minnie the Minx]

Our local hospital has lost water and staff are having to shit in plastic bags and put them in biohazard bins. Staff who are looking after covid patients and have had to spend the night at the hospital as they can’t get home. And their homes have no power anyway so when they get home they can’t shit there either.

I can’t think of a suitable emoticon to finish with.

[Jimbo]

Meanwhile we in Tokyo are having the mildest and loveliest February I've seen since I came 30 some years ago. I dread Februaries but this year I wake up, brew some coffee and stand half naked for ten minutes on my balcony under clear blue skies soaking in the warm sunlight, charging my system with natural vitamin D.

[Jimbo]

Our local hospital has lost water and staff are having to shit in plastic bags and put them in biohazard bins. Staff who are looking after covid patients and have had to spend the night at the hospital as they can’t get home. And their homes have no power anyway so when they get home they can’t shit there either.

I can’t think of a suitable emoticon to finish with.

I don't set out to make a conspiracy of everything but I just came upon this

AERIAL PHOTOS: Downtown Austin Office Buildings, Parking Garages Stay Lit Up While Citizens Shiver in the Rolling Blackouts

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/b ... s-n1426119

[Mike Boom]

Power back on. Hallelujah
Hoping it stays on

Meanwhile we in Tokyo are having the mildest and loveliest February I've seen since I came 30 some years ago. I dread Februaries but this year I wake up, brew some coffee and stand half naked for ten minutes on my balcony under clear blue skies soaking in the warm sunlight, charging my system with natural vitamin D.

Happy for you Jimbo

[Minnie the Minx]

Good to hear, Mike!

[souphound]

Good stuff, Mike. What a relief when it happens. It does show how dependent we have become over the years huh?

Nobody ever needs this.

[Minnie the Minx]

Our local hospital is now losing heat, as well as water.
Bring on the sunshine.

[Minnie the Minx]

Looks like Ted Cruz flew to Cancun away from it all in order to tweet nice things about Rush Limbaugh from his sunbed.

[kath]

happy to hear you've got power, mike.

minnie... baron... everyone in texas... ::smack::

sam's family in texas are okay, i think. he talked to his 86-year-old dad yesterday. he said he had heat.

[kath]

Looks like Ted Cruz flew to Cancun away from it all in order to tweet nice things about Rush Limbaugh from his sunbed.

cancun must have a wall built around it, to keep out all those dangerous mexicans.

[Minnie the Minx]

Austin energy say our water will be back in ‘days’ as opposed to hours. On the bright side, there are no mosquitoes!

[Six String]

Austin energy say our water will be back in ‘days’ as opposed to hours. On the bright side, there are no mosquitoes!

There will probably be a lower flea population this year too!

[Minnie the Minx]

Restaurants have had to throw out food from facilities that had no power, were inaccessible and went bad or at least went past what they could do with them. My friend had to come and put everything out for free including stock rather than see it go to waste and she is already teetering on the edge because of Covid. If this wasn't a financial death knell for some, it would sure as shit kill off spirit.

[Dr. Baron]

As usual, those with the least suffer the most.

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/19 ... 7ff40e213a