Weather officials have issued freeze warnings in Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama ahead of a sharp drop in temperatures tonight.
Freezing temperatures are expected to hit the northern portions of these states overnight and persist through Friday morning.
AccuWeather predicts that temperatures could tumble into the 20s in these states as cold air from last week’s blizzard in the northern Plains moves south.
It’s all part of a ‘polar vortex collapse’ meteorologists warned was coming, bringing wintry weather to much of the US just as spring was supposed to arrive.
This unstable stream of air from the North Pole is currently extending far below where the vortex usually sits – stretching over Canada and the northern US.
The US was hit by another polar vortex collapse in February which pummeled most of the country with a continuous stream of storms and blizzards in the Midwest and Northeast.
March’s polar vortex collapse is now funneling a wintry encore all the way south to the Gulf Coast states.
Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama are still recovering from a devastating weekend storm that killed at least 40 people throughout the central US.
Americans in the central and eastern US should expect to see wintry temperatures stick around into April, thanks to a weakening polar vortex up north
Meteorologists have issued a freeze warning in Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama as temperatures are expected to drop back into the 20s
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) explained that a polar vortex is a large area of low pressure and cold air surrounding both of the Earth’s poles.
The vortex describes the counter-clockwise flow of air that helps keep the colder air near the poles.
A ‘collapse’ occurs when the layer between six and 31 miles above the Earth’s surface heats up to 50 degrees in less than two days.
In scientific terms, it’s called sudden stratospheric warming, and the event can cause cold Arctic air to bleed south – bringing icy conditions to the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Europe.
The polar vortex always exists around the North and South Poles, weakening in the summer and strengthening in the winter.
However, NOAA explains that when the polar vortex weakens in winter due to a sudden warming event, the vortex expands, sending extremely cold air down south using Earth’s jet stream – the narrow bands of wind roughly five to seven miles above the ground.
For Americans in the central and eastern US, this latest collapse will likely push the start of spring-like weather into April.
AccuWeather added that this shift in the world’s jet stream will also stir up more storms – but they won’t be the giant winter blizzards of the last few months.
Instead, the Midwest and Northeast should prepare for below-average temperatures that cause freeze warnings lasting several days – but more snow is unlikely.
Still, residents should look out for burst pipes and frost damage to gardens.
Since early March, forecasters have been predicting another polar vortex collapse which would bring more winter weather to the US from the North Pole
The same weather projected to dampen the start of spring out east is also bringing bad news for farmers and gardeners in the South Central and Southeastern US as well.
Meteorologists warn that this sudden freeze could interfere and damage the spring planting season in several areas, including Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and the Florida Panhandle.
Meanwhile, forecasters are predicting more snow will start falling this weekend along the US-Canada border.
From Saturday night into Monday, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, northern New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine will all see at least one to three inches of snow fall.
AccuWeather Senior Long-Range Meteorologist Joe Lundberg said: ‘More wintry systems will follow the storm from Saturday to Monday during late March and into early April.’
Lundberg added that those upcoming late blasts of winter could actually reach parts of Chicago, Detroit, and New York City, bringing measurable snowfall to those major cities during the first few weeks of spring.
