NASA Image Shows Polar Vortex Slamming Into U.S.

NASA today released this image of the polar vortex, the weird atmospheric twitch that flooded into the United States last month. The purple wavy line above that wanders down from the Arctic shows the below-average temperatures that set cold records in many states.
From NASA's Facebook page:
"The Big Chill - Blistering cold air from the Arctic plunged southward this winter, breaking U.S. temperature records. A persistent pattern of winds spins high above the Arctic in winter. The winds, known as the polar vortex, typically blow in a fairly tight circular formation. But in late December 2013 and early January 2014, the winds loosened and frigid Arctic air spilled farther south than usual, deep into the continental United States. On Jan. 6, 2014, alone, approximately 50 daily record low temperatures were set, from Colorado to Alabama to New York, according to the National Weather Service. In some places temperatures were 40 degrees Fahrenheit colder than average."

Polar Vortex Behind U.S. Cold Blast

Why has the polar vortex periodically stopped doing its job over the past five years -- holding Arctic temperatures where they belong, in the Arctic -- and decided to go walkies? Put simply: no one really knows.
There's speculation that the quick warming of the Arctic is somehow affecting the wintertime actions of the polar vortex. But, experts say, not enough data has been collected yet for any solid evidence of that.

It's a bit of an atmospheric mystery that makes you want to ... shudder.

 NASA Completes First ATTREX Science Mission

NASA's Global Hawk No. 872 completed a 17.5-hour science flight Feb. 14, it's first for the 2014 Airborne Tropical Tropopause Experiment (ATTREX) mission.
The unmanned aircraft, carrying a suite of specialized instruments, flew from Andersen Air Force Base on the island of Guam. Objectives were to sample vertical distribution of the Western Pacific tropical tropopause layer trace gases, water vapor and clouds. In situ data was gathered about cirrus clouds in the cold tropopause regions surrounding Guam. Water vapor concentration was also measured in this area east-southeast of Guam.
To gather these measurements, the aircraft flew an arc first to the northwest of Guam, then reversed course and traveled south and back to the west.
The NASA Global Hawk research aircraft is in the Western Pacific region on the ATTREX mission to track changes in the upper atmosphere and help researchers understand how these changes affect Earth's climate.
For more information about the ATTREX mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/news/NewsReleases/2014/14-02.html
http://espo.nasa.gov/missions/attrex