What happened with the polar vortex, and why is everyone talking about it?

What just happened to the polar vortex and why does it seem like everyone is talking about it? Well, I want you to picture the polar vortex as this massive swirling cylinder of westerlies that form over the North Pole during the winter and it stretches basically from the ground all the way up to about 50 kilometers up and it acts like an invisible barrier that locks That cold air. in over the Arctic. But something interesting happened this week. Instead of those westerly winds that we would typically see for this time of year, the polar vortex actually slowed down and reversed direction. And while that isn't unusual in the winter, it certainly is for this time of year. And this is actually the earliest that it's happened by about three weeks. And it's It's called a sudden stratospheric warming event and in this case the reversal will be relatively short-lived. It'll return to normal by the time we get to the third week of November. But what does that mean for our weather? Well, this could be some cold air coming down, as we typically would see, but it isn't going to be that cold air outbreak that we would typically see in, say, January or February, because it's simply just not that cold up there yet. And the cold air will peak again, January, February at the height of winter. So when or if the wall of the polar vortex. does break down or release that cold air. Sure, it will be cold, but it's not going to be that frigid cold that we would associate with the word the polar vortex. So these sudden stratospheric warming events, they take a while to translate to the lower parts of the atmosphere. So that means that I'm looking towards the end of November before we see. Potentially any effects from that, but there are some early indications from the models that we will see some below normal temperatures through parts of Canada that extend extending rather down to the US. But here in Newfoundland and Labrador, it's pointing to above normal temperatures by the end of November. What about snowfall? Well, signs pointing to an active track. We've got that jet stream headed our way and that potential for some above normal precipitation, mainly for the West Coast and then up across parts of Labrador as well with the strongest signal around Lab West. So the question will be, will the strong El Nino, likely the dominant driver of the weather pattern, how will this all play out? It will certainly be interesting to watch.