The Arctic polar vortex will cause extreme cold in the United States this weekend

a polar vortex That’s going to trigger Arctic cold Across much of the United States this weekend, football fans are left shivering in the Midwest and subzero temperatures are imposed on Iowa voters before the state caucuses begin.

A patch of cold air around the North Pole, known as the polar vortex because of its counterclockwise flow, will expand and push the frigid blast south. Kansas City, Missouri, will drop to -21C on Saturday when the Chiefs face the Miami Dolphins in an NFL playoff game, while Iowa City is expected to drop to -9C.

Freezes have seen a sharp change since December when spring-like temperatures engulfed parts of the country. The extreme cold is now expected to increase demand for fuel to heat homes and businesses, sending natural gas prices to their highest level since July 2022 earlier this week and raising concerns about whether the power grid will be up to the task.

“Winter took about six weeks to start, but it’s going full steam ahead for the next two weeks,” said Rob Carroll, owner of Hometown Forecast Services, which provides the forecasts. Bloomberg Radio. “This will be the coldest stretch of winter from the Plains to the Midwest.”

Several pieces of atmospheric machinery have come together Causes severe cold in central Canada and the United States. First, the stratosphere over the North Pole warmed a few weeks ago, disrupting the polar vortex enough to send arctic air across Canada, Carroll said.

Over North America, Greenland and eastern Canada the cold is reinforced by blocks or patterns of near-stationary atmospheric pressure fields that push the polar jet stream southward. “This is having a bigger impact than the polar vortex,” Paul Pastelock said. AccuWeather Inc.

There is also snow in the Great Plains and parts of the Midwest, which promotes cold air flowing into the United States. All of this could mean severe cold that will reach South Texas. The state’s power grid operator is monitoring the situation due to rising demand and risk of dwindling power reserves.

Temperatures could reach -9C in Dallas on Monday and -4C in Houston on Tuesday, according to commercial forecaster, Maxar Technologies Inc.

New York and the Northeast won’t be as cold and the weather will turn around over the weekend. Another strong rainstorm is expected to hit Manhattan on Friday and temperatures are expected to rise to around 15°C on Saturday as warm winds push north, but lows will drop below freezing on Sunday.

While gasoline prices have soared due to the prospect of arctic cold, the heating oil market remains subdued due to abundant inventories. Retail prices on the East Coast fell below $4 a gallon in January for the first time in nearly two years.

(c) 2024, Bloomberg