Why on Earth are Winters Getting Worse if the Planet is Getting Warmer? | Weathered

↓ More info below ↓

Why do we see so much extreme winter weather even as the climate warms? Veteran climate scientist Judah Cohen describes one theory explaining the connection between changes in the jetstream, polar vortex events, and climate change. These bring blizzards, cold temperatures, and record-breaking snowfall to places that are expected to be warming. Examples are the Texas deep freeze in 2021 and in 2022, the extreme snow in Virginia which stranded drivers on I95 for over 24 hours. Watch to find out how global warming could be the cause of major weather shifts that actually increase snowfall events.

In 2015, Boston was brought to its knees by the worst winter on record, receiving an unprecedented 110 inches of snow. And over the last decade, the American Northeast has seen more than a 200% increase in the frequency of large, disruptive snowstorms. This trend surprised nearly everybody, including many of the top experts, as they had been expecting a warming planet to translate into milder winters. But in many locations, we have seen just the opposite. So what’s going on here?

We traveled to Boston to search for answers about these surprising effects of climate change and their connection to the jet stream, the polar vortex, and a phenomenon known as “arctic amplification.” We also discuss some of the most common risks like hypothermia, frostbite, heart attacks, and traffic accidents that make winter weather, far and away, the deadliest natural hazard of them all.

Weathered is a show hosted by meteorologist Maiya May and produced by Balance Media that helps explain the most common natural disasters, what causes them, how they’re changing, and what we can do to prepare.

And keep up with Weathered and PBS Terra on:

Thank you to Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies for supporting PBS.

[thedodgybeaver]

DO NOT, put warm water on frost bite when you in out of the cold, start with cool or room temperature and do so very slowly. Putting warm water on frost bitten fingers will feel like boiling water.

[Alexander-isjo]

Get this woman another series. This video was full of good and easy to understand content.

[-Anjel]

Do not leave water in your car in preparation for cold weather. Always take it with you. Water expands when it freezes. A water bottle will burst, if it freezes. If you have a garage, and your car is never left out for long, then you can leave water in the car. Do not eat snow or ice, wait for it to melt first.
If you leave food in the car, only leave food that can take freezing, and melting on repeat. Take something that is easy to open with numb fingers, edible as is, and high in calories.
Layers are better than bulky clothing, natural fibers are also warmer than synthetic. If you start to sweat, take layers off. If clothes get wet, they will not insulate.
Keep a reflective blanket in your car, in case you have to turn off heating. Do not just put in on you, surround yourself with it.

[bunnyniyori]

I'm watching this while seeing the record heat in the west, and how it is mainly on fire. Trust me, no matter how cold it is in the winter, you're going to have unbearable heat during the summer. You can melt snow for water, but you can't drink dirt.

[bakr]

I always wanted an answer for this question, because even here in Egypt winters has become harsher, especially the last 5 winters. We've even had snow for the first time in a lifetime in New Cairo, a few miles east of the capital.

[troxistmajin]

Hello from Texas, from the week of February 15, 2021. We don't have power. This aged well.

[chinelonnebe]

Crazy how it’s all just “let’s discuss how to survive in this dying world, ” and not “let’s try to prevent it.” We’ve given up hope in the people with the most power to try to actually fix this.

[patriciahenkleman]

Thank you, Terra. I find you not only knowledgeable but extremely clear and informative ☺️

[rg]

My state of Texas missed this series...entirely. Even 10 years ago..

[citizenschallengeYT]

6:00. Also keep in mind that a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, so that's another factor. There's a greater pool of moisture in the atmosphere for storm systems to suck up and concentrate, that's why deluge rain storms are also increasing. Folds within folds of harmonic cumulative complexity.

[PremierCCGuyMMXVI]

What you said at the beginning “for the time being” I think is important. What brings big snow storms is not colder air (though it obviously has to be below freezing) but more moisture. As the Earth warms and our oceans do, warmer oceans evaporate more moisture so there is more moisture in the air, warmer air can hold more water vapor. So many locations will see more annual precipitation. The big key is also temperature. Most locations are seeing warming winters, the thing is because many locations have warmed around 5°F in the Northern U.S. in winter, many locations the seasonal mean average temperature for Dec-Feb is still below 32°F. So while it’s warmer, because there is moisture, snow storms can get bigger. Plus extra tropical cyclones such as Nor’easters will get more intense as the oceans warm and there is more energy in the system. The thing is, by 2100, the Midwest and Northeast US should see January mean averages temperatures above freezing overall, so snowfall will decrease after they will initially increase in the next few decades and than fall as the climate continues to warm. So the Eastern US will see less frequency in the # of snowstorms, but when they do happen they will be a lot more intense when a cold air mass does move through. But winter rainstorms will be more common in the future. However in places like Alaska and Canada, their winter mean temperatures will likely remain below freezing even with worse case global warming scenarios by 2100, blizzards in many parts of the globe will get a lot worse in a warmer world. Remember global warming doesn’t mean beach weather in January in the high and mid-latitudes.

As far as extreme cold is a concern, while it’s a true a fast warming arctic weakens the temperature difference of higher and lower latitudes and weakens the jet stream. The Polar Vortex splitting a part in a Sudden Stratospheric Warming event (A sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) is an event in which the polar stratospheric temperature rises by several tens of kelvins (up to increases of about 50 °C (90 °F)) over the course of a few days. The warming is preceded by a slowing then reversal of the westerly winds in the stratospheric polar vortex. SSWs occur about 6 times per decade in the northern hemisphere, and only about once every 20-30 years in the Southern Hemisphere) hasn’t really increased in frequency since records began and because the strastophere is cooling because the greenhouse effect isn’t allowing heat to escape the Troposphere, it’s possible the warming of the troposphere and cooling of the strastophere cancel each other out. But one study (Simon Clark, who has done lots of research on the polar vortex and made videos on this study I’m about to mention) showed the Polar Vortex may stretch more often as Earth warms and the jet stream slows. But even than because earth will be a lot warmer in the future than now, an extreme cold in 2100 will be a lot warmer than an extreme cold event today. According to NOAA and NASA and Berkeley Earth, extreme cold events have dramatically decreased in the past century, extreme heat events have dramatically increased (also heat Records are beating cold ones 2:1 ratio and that ratio is growing), and overall winter temperatures have warmed, far faster than any other season in the Northern Hempishere.

[abe]

@6:29 Wow, you guys gave a warning to Texas about being unprepared for cold weather almost 2 weeks in advance!

[robbabcock_]

I love the phrase "global weirding' because it describes the situation so well! Here in southwest Montana we tend to get some huge mountain snows at times, but this winter is off to a very mild start temp wise. My buddy across the border in Idaho reports all they've really had is rain so far which is not the norm. In Wallace they should have a ton of snow but there isn't much.

[bhuppi]

Here in India, winters have got shorter in durations but are more intense. Summers are getting longer as well as intense. So yes, overall things are more towards hotter climate

[frankperkins]

What an outstanding series. Thank you for the explanations of what this world is experiencing.

[epauletshark]

Georgia has no idea what to do with snow, we got little flurries, not enough to do anything. But the schools shut down, roads were empty, and mass panic ensued. Having lived in Utah during my childhood, I thought that was pointless overreaction. But it was hilarious.

[dianedee]

As a Canadian, welcome to our world!! Be safe !!

[austinkealey]

I noticed bigger swings lately in the winter in the upper Midwest but overall it seems winters are getting milder and less snowy in my area.

[ashleywhispers]

I guess the movie, “the day after tomorrow’, was right, except it’s a slower process of the ice age happening

[GK]

"it was so cold it didn't melt"
*Canadians* : duh