Adverse weather conditions are felt in Europe. A snowstorm, which brought cold air from the Arctic, hit several places in European latitudes. These include Puerto de Pontón in Spain, Falcade in Italy and Bonneval in France.
This phenomenon keeps 14 communities in Spain on alert. More than 300 people had to be evacuated due to roadblocks. The snowfall has been so shocking that more than 112 roads are completely blocked in this country. Also, last Sunday two people were reported dead; was a couple who was hit by an avalanche in South Tyrol.
In the coastal areas of Spain, the minimum temperature is expected to be around 0 ° C on Tuesday (05). However, towards the interior of the northern half of the country, up to 7 ° C below zero may be recorded. Attention is also drawn to the gusts that can be generated during the week in areas such as the Ebro, the Pyrenees and Cantabria. In addition, waves of up to 3 meters are foreseen, so it is necessary to take appropriate safeguard measures to avoid risky situations.
A dramatic spike in temperatures is occurring at high altitudes above the North Pole, where the air is thin and typically frigid. Known as a sudden stratospheric warming event, experts say it’s likely to have potentially significant repercussions for winter weather across the Northern Hemisphere for weeks to possibly months.
This unusually strong event may have profound influences on the weather in the United States and Europe, possibly increasing the potential for paralyzing snowstorms and punishing blasts of Arctic air, with the odds of the most severe cold outbreaks highest in Northern Europe. The United States is slightly more of a winter wild card for now, experts say, with individual winter storms tough to predict beyond a few days in advance.
While occurring about 18 miles high in the sky and disconnected from the weather on the ground, stratospheric warming events can affect the polar vortex, which is a circulation of air around low pressure that acts as a repository for some of the coldest air on the planet.
If the polar vortex is strong and stable, as it was last winter, that cold air will stay bottled up over the Arctic, and snow chances may be few and far between for regions such as the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
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