Must Know About The Deadly Polar Vortex Of 2019

The polar vortex is an upper low-pressure area lying at both the north and south poles of our planet. Each polar vortex has about a low-pressure area of 1000 km. It rotates counterclockwise at the north pole and clockwise at the south pole. The polar vortexes are located in the middle and upper troposphere to even lower stratosphere. If a polar vortex forms it leads to a big blast in the Arctic air and keeps the bitter cold air locked around the arctic circle for a long time thereby pushing the mass of cold air downwards bringing record low temperatures in North America and Europe. The deadly polar vertex polar vortex of 2019 broke into two blobs of cold air bringing very frigid conditions to Canada, USA, Russia, and Northern Europe.

Chicago during the polar vortex

The current polar vortex of January and February 2019 split into three parts with the most of the domination in Great lakes and Nunavut.

Here were the aftermaths of the polar vortex in the following countries.

Canada:

The deadly polar vortex of 2019 had a very huge impact on Canada. Calgary and Edmonton recorded the lowest temperatures of -29 and -32 degrees Celsius in the Alberta region of Canada. Similarly, Prince George and Vancouver recorded extreme lows of -36 and -4.3 very much below normal for this time breaking all the previous records of decades. Toronto the capital city of Canada experienced a heavy snowstorm in the last 6 years. Nearly 33 cm of snow was accumulated at Toronto person international airport by recording the lowest temperatures of -23 degrees. Ottawa to experienced snowiest January on record. The cold snap also affected the Montreal region of Canada with snow 25 cms in one day which made it the snowiest day in January for a century. 

Canada In Winters

United States:

California experienced the coldest winter on record since 1989 with temperatures dropping to -2 degrees making it the coldest February since 1989. Washington DC recorded lows of -3 degrees Celsius. Illinois in Chicago area recorded lows of -25 degrees Celsius making it colder than Antarctica as a result of deadly polar vortex of 2019. Several deaths were recorded in Chicago due to frostbite. New York City recorded lows of -17 degrees Celsius. A homeless man was frozen to death in New York on 31st Jan 2019. A snowstorm brought 10.2 cm of snow in Western Washington on 3-4 February 2019 with the daytime temperature continued to drop leading to the formation of black ice on roads.

Other Countries:

The deadly polar vertex also impacted northern and eastern Europe leading to record-breaking low temperatures -23 degrees in Northern Greece. Countries like Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Austria, and Switzerland saw an enormous amount of snowfall with record cold temperatures. Similarly, North and Central India also saw record low temperatures in January and February as a result of Heavy rainfall and Snowfall in the Himalayas. Polar vertex brought a frequent amount of western disturbances to the Himalayas in Northern India leading to heavy snowfall in the Himalayas. Delhi the national capital of India experienced coldest & wettest January since 2011 as a result of deadly polar vortex of 2019. 

Impact:

Severe weather killed 22 people in North America with many frozen to death more than 5000 flights were cancelled in just 2 days.