We went from a extremely warm month of December, to now a January with a vengeance. With 2 snow events in our books and one being the biggest snowstorm in 4 years. We are not going to be done with those snow chances to finish out the month of January. The tropospheric polar vortex will remain quite dominate across Canada with a constant serious of troughs throughout the eastern half of the nation. With the polar vortex hanging around the Hudson Bay, this will allow several short waves to dip down from the Northern Plains all the way to the East Coast.
We are looking at a text book setup for cold and stormy across the eastern half of the nation. Strong ridging across the Pacific Northwest. Ridging over Greenland to act as a block for the persistent troughing across the Eastern US. This created the perfect Rossby Wave pattern for those who love the cold and snow. What is a Rossby Wave anyway? Rossby waves, also known as planetary waves, naturally occur in rotating fluids. Within the Earth’s ocean and atmosphere, these waves form as a result of the rotation of the planet.
Two sets of Omega Blocks across the Northern Hemisphere pattern. (Omega blocks get their name because the upper air pattern looks like the Greek letter omega (Ω). Omega blocks are a combination of two cutoff lows with one blocking high sandwiched between them.) This keeps these patterns locked in for an extended period of time. Like in this instance for the rest of the month. Get ready to see more arctic outbreaks and snow chances this month going forward. Several storm signals are becoming apparent beginning the 15th through the 26th.