Freezing rain, snowstorm, “the full program”

Last week's arctic cold is far from the end of this winter: on Monday the polar vortex will split and snow will cause turbulence.

Kassel – Germany is currently in a real cold claw: This is mainly caused by the polar vortex, which normally causes temperatures of up to minus 80 degrees in northern Siberia. Global warming is pushing this towards northwestern Europe and has long been causing extreme temperatures of up to minus 40 degrees in Scandinavia.

Winter continues: freezing snow, snowdrifts and freezing rain are on the way

After experts reported the coldest night of the winter last week, it will be a little milder next week. According to that German Weather Service It will be cloudy and rainy with temperatures between 0 and 8 degrees. There is snowfall in the south. Since milder air flows from southwest Europe to the northeast and cold air counteracts it, a so-called air mass limit will occur in the middle of the week.

This makes the weather situation difficult to predict. “It’s still unclear who gets snow and who gets rain,” says meteorologist Dominik Jung von weathernet. “It will be very exciting on Wednesday and Thursday. Partly with freezing rain, with freezing rain, with snow, with snowdrifts. The full program.” But what is certain is that it will be turbulent. Jung warns: There could be significant traffic disruptions, especially on Wednesday and Thursday.

Polar vortex split: After arctic cold, wintry temperatures could also occur in March

Despite the milder temperatures, winter is far from over: According to the meteorologist, it could look “really wintery” again next week. And that could still be the case in February and March. Because the alleviation of the sub-zero temperatures is probably just the calm before the storm.

On Monday there will be a so-called “full split” of the polar vortex. This is a phenomenon in which the polar vortex is divided into several individual vortices. The main vortex is expected to remain over northern Europe, while the secondary vortex is moving towards Canada.

This split is expected to last until next Thursday and then snap back toward the North Pole. This process is also called “snapback” and ensures that cold ground air from Antarctica is pushed into North America and Europe. A possible consequence is that strong high pressure forms, which causes a cold snap in this country. But it is also possible that the arctic air will hit North America instead and Germany will be spared the late onset of winter. The consequences of this process usually only appear two to six weeks later. So what ultimately happens remains to be seen.

The weather is already causing chaos in the southern United States. Several people were recently victims of a tornado there. (jus)