Data: NOAA GFS; Map: Erin Davis/Axios Visuals
A powerful Arctic outbreak tied in part to the polar vortex is set to tumble temperatures across the U.S. by next week. Temperatures may be dip as low as 25 to 35 degrees Fahrenheit below normal for mid-January, forecasts show.
Why it matters: The hazardous cold could endanger public health, stress electricity grids, damage crops and make for a frigid Inauguration Day.
- This event is likely to feature far colder conditions and be more widespread than the Arctic outbreak that occurred earlier this month.
Threat level: Mother Nature's refrigerator door looks to open starting late tomorrow, with cold air spilling southward out of northern Canada. It may last for a week or more.
- Through Sunday, about 81 million people are predicted to see temperatures plunge to below-zero Fahrenheit, and the number affected will increase from there.
- " Dangerously cold wind chills" are likely in the Plains and Upper Midwest, the NWS warns.
Zoom in: The hazardous cold will be especially disruptive in the South and Southeast, where temperature anomalies will be significant, and some snow and ice is possible.
The Arctic outbreak is likely to result in a blustery and frigid Inauguration Day, with temperatures in the 20s°F and wind chills in the teens on the National Mall.
Context: Some studies show human-caused climate change may make polar vortex shifts may more likely. But, this is a hotly contested topic in climate science.
Between the lines: The factors behind this cold outbreak include a strong high pressure area or "ridge" in the jet stream across the eastern Pacific north to Alaska, and a southward extension of the tropospheric polar vortex.
- Meanwhile, there's a dip, or "trough," in the jet stream across the Central U.S.
- The ridge and trough combo will cause Arctic air to surge southward, Zack Taylor, a forecaster at NOAA's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Md., told Axios.
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