The United States has been experiencing severe winter storms, which is likely to affect more than 60 million people in the country’s east. The ongoing cold spell, which may bring down the mercury to as low as -50C (-60F), is caused by the expansion of the polar vortex – an area of extremely cold, rotating air around the Arctic – southwards.
Sub-freezing temperatures can extend as far south as the Gulf Coast and Florida Peninsula in the US.
The polar vortex primarily affects countries situated in the Northern Hemisphere’s mid to high latitudes. These regions are particularly susceptible to extreme cold weather events.
The polar vortex spins anticlockwise around the North Pole with wind speeds of about 155mph (250km/h).
There are two types of polar vortexes – tropospheric and stratospheric.
The tropospheric polar vortex occurs at the lowest layer of the atmosphere where most weather phenomena take place. The vortex creates milder weather across northern latitudes.
The polar vortex we are currently experiencing is a stratospheric polar vortex which typically occurs about 10-30 miles (16-48km) above the Earth’s surface and forms in autumn but disappears in the spring of each year.
When the stratospheric polar vortex is in a stable state, frigid arctic air is confined to the polar regions.
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