It is not a simple seasonal cold, there is talk of a storm.
With an unstoppable march, an icy mass of air moves threateningly across the northern part of the American continent.
Coupled with the winter storm and the increasingly low temperatures in the area due to climate change, the havoc of the meteorological phenomenon known as the polar vortex arrives: a circular spectrum of icy wind and low pressure that revolves around the North Pole, some 50 kilometers above the earth's surface;
it is when it expands that its air is felt beyond the arctic.
At the moment, almost two thirds of the US population, more than 200 million inhabitants, is waiting for what happens in the next few hours and for the protection measures issued by the authorities.
President Joe Biden has called for taking Storm
Elliott
's passage through the country "extremely seriously. "
“This is not like the snowfall we used to see when we were little,” he said at a White House news conference.
But this phenomenon has also affected other latitudes in the area.
States in southern Canada have begun to close roads, schools, day care centers and offices due to the inclement weather that began on Thursday.
And some armfuls of polar air are expected to reach the north of the Mexican territory.
According to the FlightAware real-time air travel page, nearly 2,200 inbound and outbound flights to the United States were canceled on Thursday.
By this Friday there are more than 3,400 and the cancellation figures estimate an increase due to trips scheduled for the weekend.
It has also been reported that blizzards and precipitation have left more than a million people without electricity in the United States and Canada, which represents a vital problem when depending on it to supply domestic heating systems.
Steam caused by low temperatures fills Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, United States. Morry Gash (AP)
What is it and how does it affect a polar vortex?
The polar vortex is a permanent phenomenon that occurs in the arctic and when it expands it causes storms and frosts below the pole.
The air currents reach a speed of up to 240 kilometers per hour during the winter.
The northern hemisphere is the most affected by the transit of the winds that the vortex lets out during this season.
The North American meteorological system explains that it is normal for polar vortices to release icy currents to the south during this time because the pressure system decreases, which allows strong movements of icy air through the area that do not always touch land;
storms may drift toward the Pacific or proceed toward the Atlantic.
How to protect yourself from the polar vortex
Weather systems predict that Friday afternoon will be the coldest in the southern part of the United States, specifically in Texas and in the mountainous areas of some northern Mexican states.
Local authorities have begun warning citizens to avoid using coal heaters indoors due to the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
And a call is made to remain calm in the face of this contingent and to prepare for the effects of its passage.
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