![]() Like the polar vortex of winter 2013-2014, the current Arctic air outbreak and extreme amount of lake-effect snowfall in Buffalo was triggered by a high-pressure system in the Pacific Ocean and western U.S. Unusual Atmospheric Patterns and Possible Climate Connections The unseasonably cold air intensified the lake-effect snowfall in Buffalo due to the extreme difference between water and air temperatures, which increased the amount of snowfall produced as cold winds moved across the warmer lake water.The jet stream may have slowed due to a warmed Arctic, making it easier for Nuri to drive the jet stream southward, bringing frigid sub-Arctic conditions with it.Nuri, traveling further north than normal thanks to those warm waters, pushed the jet stream south into the U.S.Warm ocean waters strengthened Super Typhoon Nuri, which kicked off this event.So how might the current Arctic outbreak and extreme lake-effect snowfall in Buffalo be connected to broader climate change trends? National Climate Assessment, climate change has already led to heavier-than-normal snowfalls in the Northeast with indications that wintertime atmospheric patterns are increasingly prone to blocking, or stagnation that locks in wintry conditions. ![]() The most eye-opening consequence of the cold streak has been the extreme amount of snowfall – made worse by lake-effect snow – in Buffalo, New York. ![]() has endured over a week of unseasonably wintry conditions due to atmospheric blocking – a large scale pressure pattern with little or no movement – that has led to a sustained outbreak of record cold mid-November Arctic air. While global temperatures are shaping up to make 2014 the hottest year on record, the U.S. ![]()
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