Arctic air definition

[wdrag]

Good morning this 2020 holiday season.  Weather tends to highlight dramatic events. I find the term  - use of ARCTIC air far too often here in the northeast USA. 

I have provided the American Meteorological Society definition of arctic air, and the NWS lesson source regions. 

I think it would be good for  us to review the source region of many of these air masses (and if we know how, use trajectories to locate the source).  

In essence, I am concerned about the overuse of this term. I myself would probably reserve the use of the term to something like wind driven 20 degrees below normal (and only in winter in the USA). Here in the I84 corridor, i don't think of arctic air til we get wind driven near zero airmass in DJF or maybe the NWS definition of Wind Chill WARNING as it is applied in the USA..  There is no specific definition as I've written in this paragraph but I'd like to see the use of ARCTIC reduced, to where it can be of more value (VERY cold).

Your approach and counter concern with this topic- let em rip.

 

arctic air

A type of air mass with characteristics developed mostly in winter over arctic surfaces of ice and snow.

 

Arctic air is cold aloft and extends to great heights, but the surface temperatures are often higher than those of polar air. For two or three months in summer arctic air masses are shallow and rapidly lose their characteristics as they move southward. 

 

 

[rclab]

36 minutes ago, wdrag said:

Good morning this 2020 holiday season.  Weather tends to highlight dramatic events. I find the term  - use of ARCTIC air far too often here in the northeast USA. 

I have provided the American Meteorological Society definition of arctic air, and the NWS lesson source regions. 

I think it would be good for  us to review the source region of many of these air masses (and if we know how, use trajectories to locate the source).  

In essence, I am concerned about the overuse of this term. I myself would probably reserve the use of the term to something like wind driven 20 degrees below normal (and only in winter in the USA). Here in the I84 corridor, i don't think of arctic air til we get wind driven near zero airmass in DJF or maybe the NWS definition of Wind Chill WARNING as it is applied in the USA..  There is no specific definition as I've written in this paragraph but I'd like to see the use of ARCTIC reduced, to where it can be of more value (VERY cold).

Your approach and counter concern with this topic- let em rip.

 

 

arctic air

A type of air mass with characteristics developed mostly in winter over arctic surfaces of ice and snow.

 

Arctic air is cold aloft and extends to great heights, but the surface temperatures are often higher than those of polar air. For two or three months in summer arctic air masses are shallow and rapidly lose their characteristics as they move southward. 

 

 

Thank you wd. An understandable re-education for the proper use of the term Polar Vortex, would help me. As always ....

[wdrag]

2 minutes ago, rclab said:

Thank you wd. An understandable re-education for the proper use of the term Polar Vortex, would help me. As always ....

Will try to remember for 1030A... basically it's always been around but along with much of the drama of weather life (I definitely am apprehensive about overuse of extremes, especially if the issuers do not consistently verify). Later... ping me this eve, if I forget to comment with documentation (unless others do so). 

[wdrag]

6 hours ago, wdrag said:

Will try to remember for 1030A... basically it's always been around but along with much of the drama of weather life (I definitely am apprehensive about overuse of extremes, especially if the issuers do not consistently verify). Later... ping me this eve, if I forget to comment with documentation (unless others do so). 

On Polar Vortex: wikipedia and then some government definitions.  Myself,  I prefer not to use Polar Vortex in winter til we get down to a 500MB 498 or 504 DM  (corrected 540 to 504 at 419P) height-something more common n of the arctic circle (60N). Use as appropriate with respect to NOAA etc definitions. 

 

A strong polar vortex configuration in November 2013

 

A more typical weak polar vortex on January 5, 2014

A polar vortex is a persistent, large-scale, upper-level low-pressure area, less than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) in diameter, that rotates counter-clockwise at the North Pole and clockwise at the South Pole (called a cyclone in both cases), i.e., both polar vortices rotate eastward around the poles. The vortices weaken and strengthen from year to year. As with other cyclones, their rotation is driven by the Coriolis effect. 

The polar vortex was first described as early as 1853.^[1] The phenomenon's sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) develops during the winter in the Northern Hemisphere and was discovered in 1952 with radiosonde observations at altitudes higher than 20 km.^[2] The phenomenon was mentioned frequently in the news and weather media in the cold North American winter of 2013–2014, popularizing the term as an explanation of very cold temperatures.^[3]

Ozone depletion occurs within the polar vortices – particularly over the Southern Hemisphere – reaching a maximum depletion in the spring. Polar vortices are weakest during summer and strong

 

[rclab]

1 hour ago, wdrag said:

On Polar Vortex: wikipedia and then some government definitions.  Myself,  I prefer not to use Polar Vortex in winter til we get down to a 500MB 498 or 540 DM  height-something more common n of the arctic circle (60N). Use as appropriate with respect to NOAA etc definitions. 

 

A strong polar vortex configuration in November 2013

 

A more typical weak polar vortex on January 5, 2014

A polar vortex is a persistent, large-scale, upper-level low-pressure area, less than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) in diameter, that rotates counter-clockwise at the North Pole and clockwise at the South Pole (called a cyclone in both cases), i.e., both polar vortices rotate eastward around the poles. The vortices weaken and strengthen from year to year. As with other cyclones, their rotation is driven by the Coriolis effect. 

The polar vortex was first described as early as 1853.^[1] The phenomenon's sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) develops during the winter in the Northern Hemisphere and was discovered in 1952 with radiosonde observations at altitudes higher than 20 km.^[2] The phenomenon was mentioned frequently in the news and weather media in the cold North American winter of 2013–2014, popularizing the term as an explanation of very cold temperatures.^[3]

Ozone depletion occurs within the polar vortices – particularly over the Southern Hemisphere – reaching a maximum depletion in the spring. Polar vortices are weakest during summer and strong

 

Thank you for your kindness and doing the work I should have done. Have a blessed New Year with 100% forecast accuracy. As always ..

[wdrag]

3 hours ago, rclab said:

Thank you for your kindness and doing the work I should have done. Have a blessed New Year with 100% forecast accuracy. As always ..

Thank you  very much - many times just a little lucky to get close and I learn from our posters.  Helps me incorporate  multiple thinking. In any case Happy New Year all! Let's hope it is as good or better than the soon to be exiting 2020. Walt