“Arctic explosion”: the reason for the sharp cooling in the Northern Hemisphere is named

In Canada, temperatures down to minus 50 degrees Celsius are predicted for the weekend.

After a short period of warming, frosts have returned to Moscow – but not only Russians are suffering from the cold. A “violent” Arctic blast is expected to bring frigid temperatures to North America.

Canada is under an extreme cold warning as US forecasters warn of wind chills in Texas and heavy snow in the Midwest and East Coast, The Guardian writes.

Forecasters have warned that a “sharp” blast of cold Arctic air will bring dangerously low temperatures to parts of North America.

In Canada, cold Arctic air is being pushed from the Northwest Territories into Alberta, where Environment Canada has issued an extreme cold warning. In Alberta’s largest city, Calgary, temperatures could plummet to -37C on Friday, reaching a daytime high of -31C. This will be the coldest January day in the city in the last two decades, notes The Guardian. Temperatures could approach -50°C over the weekend due to strong winds. Under such conditions, experts say, exposed skin can become frostbitten in less than a minute.

A cold front will also begin moving from the Rocky Mountains into the northern U.S. Plains Thursday evening before moving south, likely lowering daily cold records in several places, according to the National Weather Service. “Dangerously cold wind gusts” are expected in Texas and the Southeast, which will drop temperatures below freezing.

“Temperatures will be severe compared to the relatively mild conditions experienced for much of the winter season up to this point,” the weather service said in its warning.

Much of the United States is expected to be hit by cold weather, with Chicago expected to drop below -23 degrees Celsius for the first time since 2019 and Oklahoma City expected to drop below -17.7 degrees for the first time since February 2021. The wind chill could cause temperatures in some areas of the Rocky Mountains to rise to -34.4C, posing a risk of hypothermia for anyone caught in the weather.

Meanwhile, heavy snow storms, sleet and rain are expected to impact the Midwest and East Coast, with the weather service warning of “major disruption” as some areas of Michigan could see 12 inches of snow and strong winds could cause blizzard conditions in the Great lakes River and coastal flooding is possible in the northeast due to storms and heavy rain.

The cold front will be a significant change for parts of the country that have so far experienced a very mild winter, with scant snowfall and above-average temperatures.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed Tuesday that last year was the fifth hottest on record in the U.S., and 2023 was the world’s hottest by a wide margin.

Climate researchers have theorized that sudden cold extremes in the United States may in some cases be caused by global warming. The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet, causing changes in the circular motion of winds called the polar vortex that normally keeps the cold in the polar region.

As this pattern becomes more undulating, the cold could move south, which is what researchers believe happened during the 2021 Texas cold snap.