Tuesday, December 26, 2023, 9:04 p.m.
On December 22, winter officially settled, astronomically speaking, in the northern hemisphere. Although temperatures have dropped in recent days, the maximum temperatures recorded in some municipalities and provinces of the country could cast doubt on the arrival of this season. However, the possible arrival of the phenomenon called 'Stratwarming' can give a radical turn to this trend.
Meteorology has a series of expressions and terms that can be real gibberish for those who are not familiar with this jargon, such as isobar, mesoscale or millibar. One of the latest words to come to the fore is 'Stratwarming' or sudden stratospheric warming.
This has been following Mario Picazo's warning about prediction models that indicate that this week “a significant weakening of the polar vortex will begin with the first signs of sudden stratospheric warming.” As he explained in his X account, this phenomenon “can significantly influence winter weather.”
In fact, he clarified that if the prediction models “confirm this trend, the month of January “could be marked by quite different meteorology” very different from the current one, since the cold “would be much more intense.”
What is 'Stratwarming'
The meteorologist has pointed out that 'Stratwarming' originates when the pressure and temperature at 10 hectopascals – about 31,000 meters above sea level – “increase intensely and suddenly and then, slowly, the effects of this phenomenon affect the troposphere and to the lower layers of the atmosphere until it weakens and causes the breakup of the polar vortex.
That is, as the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) points out, it is characterized by a rapid increase in temperature, of more than 25 degrees (it can be up to 80 degrees) in less than a week, in the stratosphere.
Prediction models continue to point to a significant weakening of the polar vortex beginning this week with the first signs of sudden stratospheric warming over the polar regions. This is a phenomenon called “Stratwarming” and it can… pic.twitter.com/NQjtH9blcT
— Mario Picazo (@picazomario) December 26, 2023
When this phenomenon occurs, the jet stream – fast-moving air currents that circulate above the Earth at a height of between 8 and 15 kilometers – undergoes “strong oscillations” and creates “ideal conditions for massive drops of polar air masses towards lower latitudes, including those of the Mediterranean,” highlights Picazo, who also recognizes that 'Stratwarming' has been “determining” in the “greatest cold waves of the past.”
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