The Polar Vortex Is Coming Back This Winter, But It Might Not Be As Cold As Last Year

The folks at AccuWeather are running computer models to try to predict what the 2014-2015 winter season will bring, and Polar Vortex is a word that has popped back up as a very real possibility. Last winter, the Polar Vortex had a frigid grip on much of the northern and eastern parts of the United States, and made for one of the longest and coldest stretches of weather we've seen around the Twin Ports region in recent memory.

According to the models AccuWeather is running, the Polar Vortex is expected to reappear for the upcoming winter season, bringing similar conditions as last year that include extreme cold for northern parts of the country.

What does this mean for the Northland this winter? AccuWeather says things might be slightly better than the miserably long cold stretch we had last year. They are forecasting temperatures that will average 7-9 degrees warmer than last year's three-month average. Along with the slightly warmer average temperature, below-normal snowfall is expected. Simply put, we can expect a slightly warmer and less snowy winter than last year, according to these models.

Something that is worth keeping in mind is that weather models are never perfect, and if the predicted Polar Vortex shows up in even a slightly different place than it is expected to, that can mean a pretty drastically different forecast for this winter. That said, we'll just have to wait and see, as it always is with the weather around here.