Severe Arctic Freeze And Southern Ice Storm Ahead; Record Cold Hits China; Japan Under Heavy Snow; + Earth Just Dodged A Near-Carrington-Level Hit
What spared Earth was orientation...
Severe Arctic Freeze And Southern Ice Storm Ahead
A continental-scale Arctic air mass is now surging south out of Canada and will engulf much of the United States through the end of the week, locking large portions of the country into one of the most severe cold outbreaks of recent decades.
A dense, shallow Arctic dome is dropping into the Midwest and Great Lakes before plunging into Texas and the Southeast.
Temperatures across wide swaths of the country will fall 20C to 30C (36F to 54F) below late-January norms.
In the northern Plains and Upper Midwest, surface readings near -30C (-22F) are likely, with -40C (-40F) air pressing south out of Canada. Wind chills will crash into the -40F to -50F range across multiple states.
On the back of this forecast, U.S. Natural Gas prices have surged a whopping 49% (since Monday).
The atmospheric setup is classic and dangerous.
A powerful tropospheric polar vortex lobe is digging south, marked by exceptionally low mid-level thickness values more typical of deep Siberian winter. At the surface, a massive Arctic high exceeding 1050 mb is anchoring the cold in place, allowing it to pool near the ground and resist erosion. Once established, this air mass does not move quickly.
The real problem begins where this cold collides with moisture.
