Greetings from the polar votex in Minnesooota.Anyone from here knows what it is.It’s 1:15 a.m. 2-11 and about -11 below zero without wind chill.Could last through this weekend with up to -40 wind chill. Not sure ,I don’t watch the news anymore,too depressing these days.Back in the day this would be good riding weather(snowmobiles).O.K.alittle cold but they run so good,real snappy on the go fast lever(lol).So I’m stuck at home again for a while, not able to drive yet,been almost 2yrs.My brother came over today and gave me a ride to the laundramat(oh boy!).Came home and shot the breeze for a while,thanks bro!Havn’t worked on my Stuka since Nov.Not much ambition to with that and other things.Stuck in a rut I guess.Maybe someone could give me a push.Been stuck on watching you tube vids on mountain sled riders in the deep stuff.I couldn’t ride like that but sure looks fun.I think back to the trail riding in MN,WI MI,good times.It’s about 1:50 now and probably a little colder too so i’ll stop flapping.Everyone please keep safe and keep warm if you live in the VORTEX.Good buy for now from Minesooota!
Geesh:
And here in TEXAS at 41 degrees and a ten knot wind out of the North I thought it was cold. Years ago I was on a Polar Re-Supply expedition and I drove a Snow Cat. I thought I was gonna freeze my whazoos off!. Stay warm and work on the Stuka. Progress on that will warm you up!
Polar Vortex!? We used to call them storms or “cold fronts” before the weather forcasters wanted to stick a name on them and dramatize 'em.
Yeah;
But Modelcrazy! “Polar Vortex” sounds so much more thrilling that Cold Front or Nor-Easter! Dontchya think? We have to put the blame on the right folks.The Biggest overpaid Liars on the Planet. Weather Forecasters. They usually, Here anyway, are wrong 75% of the time!
Well, I guess it’s not their fault really. Mother nature does change her mind a lot. Just to keep us on our toes!
No, the polar vortex is not the same as a cold front. It is a new phenomena due to a slowing of the jet stream. Vortices breaking off from the arctic air mass and descending into the US have been extremely rare in the past. Cold fronts move, these isolated polar lows hang around for awhile 
It’s currently -27 here under the Big Sky, with a projected daytime high of -15 and a low temperature tonight of -35 without the wind-chill being factored in. You guys can argue cold front vs. polar vortex - here, we just call it Thursday.
Weathertainment. It’s all about ratings.
50 degrees and raining here in Central Cal.
Planting bare root roses this weekend.
Bill
I hear ya brother, Back in 90 when I (and Scottrc BTW) lived in Havre, my first winter was -30. We just called it cold.
Considering that modern weather measuring and tracking techniques are a fairly recent ability, and that the area has only be populated by people who keep records of such things for only a couple centuries, I’ll wager that in the true history of the continent, it’s been going on for a lot longer than the white man has been in the Americas. The jet stream was only discovered and classified in WWII. Nobody new of such things before then.
Also, there are so many sources clamoring for your attention, they get more and more ludicrous and silly to get you to watch. Bomb Cyclone! Polar Vortex! Winter Storm Eunice is going to KILL YOU ALL!!! Now every weather event has to be the one that is going destroy civilization so you’ll watch. and weather is constantly mixed up with climate for political ends.
I lived in Southern California along the coast for all of my life until last year. The Pacific Ocean currents in that area has a warming cycle phenomenon named El Niño which happens every so many years. When I was younger, it would combine with winds from the Hawaiian island area to form a “Pineapple Express” as the tv weather folks called it to bring a series of rainstorms in the winter and spring. I guess that name became un PC in this century, and it became an “atmospheric river”, carrying the same storms. And of course now all the TV channels go to “storm watch” to cover each impending doom forecast…
like they used to say on Dragnet, “the names have been changed to protect the innocent”.
You want “Polar Vortex”? Go back about 13,000 to 15,000 years ago. Couple miles of ice over the same area. One thing for sure, this old rock is always changing, and Mom Nature knows how to throw a spit ball.
When I first heard the term ‘Polar Vortex’ I thought it must be sorta like a Sharknado except for blizzard like conditons and it drops polar bears on people instead of sharks…
Never ridden a snowmobile but always thought it looks like fun in movies in TV.
I actually just heard the “pineapple express” the other day from the weather guy I watch. I was actually shocked it was a real thing. I thought it was just something made up for a pot movie!
When I was about 18, and not as bright as now, I stuffed a sled ski in a powder hole at full throttle. Went head over teakettle. When I dug out, my 35mm camera was still in the leather case around my neck. Found snow under the lens cap that was still on the lens. Last time ever on one.
I know cold. I spent two years in North Dakota (I think the A.F. was finally getting vack at me for sneaking ouit of Maine). Sometimes I wouild be outside at 80 below. Not sure how much was wind chill, don’t think it was much, but we shut down at 98 below.That was the only base I had ever been assigned to that made me wish I was back in the war in South East Asia.
Except in the Southern Hemisphere… then it drops Emperor Penguins!
That’s an excellent point, and something to bear in mind in discussions of weather and climate over long periods of time.