Storms, Heat and Cold: A U. S. Weather Rollercoaster

A dramatic mix of weather is heading across the United States. In Hawaii, rain has started to pour hard enough that flash floods are a concern on Oahu. Meanwhile the Southwest is about to feel an early heat wave, with Phoenix expected to hit record temperatures that have never been seen this early in the year. The heat dome will push air high over the region, keeping temperatures above 100 degrees for several days. People in Los Angeles are already noticing March’s unusually hot weather, and local runners say the heat is forcing them to shorten their workouts. At the same time, the polar vortex – a big pocket of cold air near the North Pole – is moving southward. It will bring freezing temperatures to the Midwest and East, with Minneapolis possibly dropping near zero degrees Celsius and Chicago staying in the single digits. The Northeast could see temperatures in the teens, while even Atlanta might fall into the 20s. This cold snap will happen as the warm air in the Southwest is building.Two big storms are on the horizon for the northern states and Great Lakes. The first will hit around Friday, followed by a larger one on Sunday into Monday. The second storm is expected to intensify quickly and could be classified as a bomb cyclone, which usually only happens over oceans. The storm could bring three to four feet of snow in some places, and ice storms are also a risk just south of the heavy snowfall. High winds will hit parts of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, reaching up to 60 miles per hour with stronger gusts. Cities like San Antonio and Austin are in the path of these winds, raising wildfire danger in areas that have not had much rain recently. The underlying cause is a jet stream that has become unusually steep and erratic. This pattern allows hot air to stay in the Southwest while cold air moves down into the Midwest and East, creating extreme weather next to each other. Scientists say that changes in this jet stream are linked to shrinking Arctic ice and human-caused climate change. The first day of spring is expected on March 20, after which temperatures should start to recover. The forecast shows that the next week could bring more storms, but not as widespread as the recent tornadoes in Oklahoma, Michigan and Indiana. Thunderstorms that could be dangerous might appear anywhere from the Mississippi Valley toward the East Coast later in the week.