Extreme Cold Forecast for Much of U.S. Brings Potential for Infrastructure Impacts

Frigid air from the Arctic is forecast to descend on the U.S. in the coming days, bringing the coldest air of the season and the potential for significant infrastructure impacts. In some areas, the extreme cold could persist for weeks. In its Daily Operations Briefing (posted to WaterISAC’s portal at the link below), FEMA shows that an area stretching from Montana to the Northeast and extending as far south in as the middle of Texas will soon experience “much below normal temperatures.” Temperatures of 30 degrees below average are expected over the northern Plains, Great Lakes, and Midwest by this weekend, bringing widespread subzero readings and wind chills down to minus-30 in spots. The core of the cold will shift east with time, but may take until the second half of next week to arrive in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, and in a slightly tempered state. The same pattern could bolster the risk of additional storms for those on the East Coast. There are signs that the extreme cold could dominate most of February. This activity is tied to a disruption of the polar vortex, a whirlpool of cold air and low pressure whirring above the Arctic. Perturbations or splits of the vortex can knock it off-kilter, allowing it to spill lobes of cold air to the mid-latitudes and cause stormy weather in North America. Due to a strong polar vortex last year, which kept back lobes of cold air like the ones  expected shortly, the U.S. experienced a mostly meager winter last year. Returning to 2019, when there was also a significant disruption of the polar vortex, the extreme cold took a heavy toll on infrastructure. This included interruptions to water, electricity, and transportation services, as WaterISAC discussed in this item published on January 31, 2019. Read more at the Washington Post.