Arctic Freeze!!!

2013-11-23 17:58:47.000 – Pratik Patel,  Summit Intern

cold air seeping over the Great Lakes

As you may know, winter has already started on top of Mt. Washington a few weeks ago. Over the next 36 hours, the polar jet stream will dip over the Midwest and the high and low pressure systems over central and northeastern North America will help funnel in cool Arctic air over the northeast. Here on the summit, we will see temperatures plummet to mid teens below zero! As the surface high builds up over the Midwest and pushes eastward, a relatively strong pressure gradient force (a strong pressure gradient force will have many pressure lines packed tightly together over a certain area) will develop in relation to the low over eastern Canada and north of Nova Scotia. Adding these hurricane force winds with the bitter cold Arctic air, wind chills will fall to nearly 50 below zero! As this system moves on and the building high over the Midwest continues to move east towards the Atlantic, weather conditions should quiet down and sunny skies are a good possibility mid next week.

Pratik Patel,  Summit Intern