Second Polar Vortex?

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spidersfan351

Train Attendant
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Aug 1, 2011
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Location
Richmond, Virginia
So I just heard there is a system very similar to the polar vortex of a couple weeks ago headed through Chicago. Unfortunately, so am I.

Taking the Zephyr tomorrow from EMY to CHI, connecting to the Thursday Cap Ltd. Any thoughts on what to expect?
 
You should be alright as the main thrust of this "attack" will be to the east. Hopefully by the time you get on the Cap the snow will be gone and you'll just have normal cold weather to deal with.
 
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Not nearly as bad as the first system. Chicago forecast through Thursday night is as follows:

Tonight: Snow. The snow could be heavy at times. Low around 9. Wind chill values as low as -3. Blustery, with a north wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches possible.

Tomorrow: Snow showers, mainly before 7am. The snow could be heavy at times. Temperature falling to around 8 by 9am. Wind chill values as low as -11. Blustery, with a north northwest wind 15 to 20 mph decreasing to 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Tomorrow Night: Increasing clouds, with a low around 1. Wind chill values as low as -15. West northwest wind around 10 mph becoming southwest after midnight.

Wednesday: Occasional snow after 7am. High near 17. Wind chill values as low as -16. Southwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.

Wednesday Night: Occasional snow before 7pm. Low around 0. Blustery, with a northwest wind 15 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Thursday: A 20 percent chance of snow showers after 7am. Partly sunny and cold, with a high near 10. Blustery.

Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of snow showers before 7pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around -4.
 
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It's going to be like any other colder-than-usual January. This weather is neither new nor different; it comes around every few years. The media is just hyping it because... well... they're the media.
 
The Weather Channel has named Winter Storm Janus, the 10th named storm of the 2013-14 winter storm season.

Just so some can get their indignant knickers in a knot :lol:
 
roomette said:
The Weather Channel has named Winter Storm Janus, the 10th named storm of the 2013-14 winter storm season.

Just so some can get their indignant knickers in a knot :lol:
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That storm is already past the Chicago area, so there should be little or no problem except for the cold in Chicago, but that is what Chicago is known for in winter.
 
This storm is expected to dump a fair amount of snow along the northeast on Tuesday and Tuesday night. Maybe 8" to 12" in central NJ and Long Island. So the much of the NEC will get hit with snow and strong winds.

It got to upper 40s and 50+ degrees along the southern part of the NEC today. The forecast calls for temps dropping to the single digits by early AM Wednesday with strong winds. Big enough temperature shift that we may see some catenary failures on the southern half on the NEC, although hopefully not as bad as Polar Vortex 1.0.
 
I agree, it's nothing major going on other than TWC and a few other over hyped the system... (I don't miss TWC at all.. Glad DirecTV got WeatherNation and it's all weather, and no storm names and movies.. )
 
Keep in mind the Polar Vortex is something that always exists, and always has around the Arctic Circle. Occasionally, as we saw a few weeks ago, pieces of the vortex can "break off" and descend southward, bringing bitterly cold temperatures to southern Canada and the US.

I'm a meteorology major at Stony Brook, and boy was there some lively discussion among us about how much hype the media spun up a few weeks ago.

This is what a chunk of the vortex "breaking off" and moving southward looks like on a forecast model. Notice the blue blob, and the black line indicating the jet stream.

It happens quite frequently, with some occurrences colder than others.

psu ewall 500mb GFS 1.8.14.jpg

Image source: Penn State E-Wall (I added arrows, text and the jet stream line)
 
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I think The Weather Channel just made up the name Polar Vortex. :lol:
 
jis said:
roomette said:
I think The Weather Channel just made up the name Polar Vortex. :lol:
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The phenomenon was apparently discovered in 1953, and the term was applied to characterize it around that time for the first time. ;)
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And all the people on this forum hated it because it was new. Just like they hate the Weather Channel storm names now. :lol:
 
roomette said:
jis said:
roomette said:
I think The Weather Channel just made up the name Polar Vortex. :lol:
Click to expand...
The phenomenon was apparently discovered in 1953, and the term was applied to characterize it around that time for the first time. ;)
Click to expand...
And all the people on this forum hated it because it was new. Just like they hate the Weather Channel storm names now. :lol:
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no, we hated it because the no-attention span media overhyped it like it was something new.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum
 
Trainmans daughter said:
roomette said:
I think The Weather Channel just made up the name Polar Vortex. :lol:
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It sounds like something from Dairy Queen. "I'd like a Polar Vortex, please". Sounds yummy.
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Small, Medium, or Weather Channel size? You want whipped topping on your Vortex?

I've been traveling on business in recent weeks and one thing I've noticed is that the DQ's in small towns seem to do things a little differently. If you order a "Snickers Blizzard" in a city you get chunks of Snickers and chocolate syrup mixed in which makes it taste even better than an actual Snickers bar. While out in the country you get a cup of soft serve with teeny tiny fragments of a Snickers mixed in. There are no chunks, no chocolate syrup, and it basically tastes no different than a vanilla cone with sprinkles on top. Maybe they need to ration the Snickers and the syrup because the supply truck only comes once a month.
 
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It amazes me that so many people think "the media" is responsible for its lameness - when in fact, the media is a direct reflection of what we, the people, demonstrate an insatiable appetite for. Ever hear of ratings? The weather channel, like all others, depends on advertising, the effects of which are measured through ratings.

"The media" is like it is because they are giving us exactly what we have demonstrated a taste for - including storm names.
 
The snowfall forecast for an area covering much of the southern half of the NEC from WAS to NJ has increased to 8" to 12". Add strong winds and temperature drops to low single digits, odds are good that there will be delays and service disruptions on the NEC and connected corridors through Wednesday. January will not be a good month for Amtrak reliability or total ridership.

On the positive side, catenary failures due to weather can help to make the case to land some of the $3 billion in Sandy relief mitigation funds for transit and passenger rail to replace more of the old catenary between WAS-NYP with constant tension catenary.
 
afigg said:
The snowfall forecast for an area covering much of the southern half of the NEC from WAS to NJ has increased to 8" to 12". Add strong winds and temperature drops to low single digits, odds are good that there will be delays and service disruptions on the NEC and connected corridors through Wednesday. January will not be a good month for Amtrak reliability or total ridership.

On the positive side, catenary failures due to weather can help to make the case to land some of the $3 billion in Sandy relief mitigation funds for transit and passenger rail to replace more of the old catenary between WAS-NYP with constant tension catenary.
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Yes, the overnight in the NEC will be a nightmare, all the way from Washington up to and thru Boston. If the last storm is any example, there will be cancellations and delays. Lets hope it does not get as bad as the last time when they cancelled everything from Chicago.
 
Not just the northeast. It's snowing pretty hard here in western NC right now, with as much as 7" forecast. Not much by northern Midwest standards, but sure to snarl all road traffic hereabouts. And once again, a cold snap that's unusual for this part of the country, with nightly lows in the single digits or teens into the weekend.
 
Chicago is and will be fine. I can't stress that enough.

We're only supposed to get 1-3" over the next few days, and -10 is not new to us.
 
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