The 2018-19 Arctic stratospheric polar vortex

Lee, S. H. and Butler, A. H. (2020) The 2018-19 Arctic stratospheric polar vortex. Weather, 75 (2). pp. 52-57. ISSN 0043-1656 doi: 10.1002/wea.3643

Abstract/Summary

The stratospheric polar vortex is a westerly circulation that forms over the winter pole around 10-50 km above the surface, which is known to influence mid-latitude weather patterns. During 2018-19, the Arctic polar vortex demonstrated an unusually large amount of variability, including a strong and persistent sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event, a strong vortex event, and a dynamic final stratospheric warming (FSW). In this article we discuss the evolution of the vortex, placing it in the context of wider observed climatology, and comment on its apparent impacts on tropospheric weather patterns – notably, the lack of a surface climate response to the SSW of similar magnitude to the February-March 2018 “Beast from the East” cold-wave.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/87110
Identification Number/DOI	10.1002/wea.3643
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
Publisher	Wiley
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