{"id":283310,"date":"2025-11-25T23:07:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T23:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/283310\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T23:07:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T23:07:19","slug":"polar-vortex-set-to-bring-harsh-early-start-to-winter-across-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/283310\/","title":{"rendered":"Polar vortex set to bring \u2018harsh early start to winter\u2019 across Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

A polar vortex<\/a> is on its way for much of Canada next week.<\/p>\n

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And while it\u2019s not the first time Canadians have faced down the chill of a polar vortex in recent years, this one is set to cause temperatures to plunge below what many are used to this time of year.<\/p>\n

\u201cComputer models and analogs looking at past years with similar November weather patterns are all pointing towards a colder-than-normal December in Canada,\u201d said Global News meteorologist Anthony Farnell.<\/p>\n

What should you expect?<\/p>\n

The polar vortex exists year-round and generally surrounds the Earth\u2019s poles.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSometimes this vortex expands or stretches and is forced southward away from the North Pole,\u201d said Farnell.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis sends abnormally cold and stormy weather into the more populated regions of North America, along with Europe and Asia. These \u2018polar vortex\u2019 episodes can last anywhere from days to a few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is essentially a \u201cwide expanse of swirling cold air,\u201d according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Arctic polar vortex surrounds the North Pole around 10-30 miles above the surface of the Earth.<\/p>\n

When this low-pressure system is strong, it keeps the jet stream circling the Earth. However, during winter, the polar vortex at the North Pole expands, sending cold air southward.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs this system weakens, some of the cold, arctic air can break off and migrate south, bringing plenty of cold air with it. Areas as far south as Florida may experience arctic weather as a result,\u201d NOAA says on its website.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPolar Vortex brings extreme cold to Ontario\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Winter doesn\u2019t officially start until Dec. 21.<\/p>\n

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But the arrival of the polar vortex \u201cwill likely mean a harsh early start to winter across the country,\u201d Farnell said.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"For<\/p>\n

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For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.<\/p>\n

The frigid Arctic air is already starting to appear across Western Canada, bringing snowy conditions to parts of southern Alberta and Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n

Heavy snow that blanketed the City of Calgary overnight made many roads virtually impassable as vehicles slid down hills and crashed into each other, prompting police to shut down some streets while emergency crews worked to clear away damaged vehicles and debris.<\/p>\n

A large area stretching from\u00a0southeastern British Columbia into southern Saskatchewan was under a heavy snowfall warning,<\/a>\u00a0with up to 20 cm of snow expected to fall in some areas.<\/p>\n

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Environment Canada currently has a winter storm watch for large parts of northern Ontario<\/a>, including Thunder Bay and Timmins.<\/p>\n

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The snow is forecast to taper off late Monday in B.C. and Alberta, and Tuesday morning in Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n

This will lead to rain showers over the Great Lakes turning into flurries next week, Farnell said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cInitially, the pattern looks to have some big swings in temperature with cold mixing with milder days in the eastern part of the country through the first few days of December. The western half of Canada is more likely to lock in to below seasonal temperatures this week and stay that way through much of December,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Environment Canada warned that strong winds will also create blowing snow, reducing visibility and making travel challenging for motorists.<\/p>\n

The risk of \u201cextreme cold\u201d arrives in December, Farnell said, adding that computer models show a further displacement of the polar vortex is likely.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the Great Lakes still unfrozen, it would also lead to days of lake effect piling up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Coldest places on earth\u2019: Arctic temperatures arrive in Alberta\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tWhat have past polar vortexes been like?\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The year 2025 seems to be bookended by polar vortexes<\/a>, after a rush of Arctic air left temperatures plummeting in January of this year.<\/p>\n

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The Prairies in particular saw wind chills near -40 C or lower for Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg during that polar vortex earlier in the year.<\/p>\n

A polar vortex in 2021 extended deep into the United States as well<\/a>, with cold warnings across multiple states and an ice storm in Texas.<\/a><\/p>\n

The polar vortexes that hit Canada in 2013-2014 brought dangerously low temperatures. That year, some areas near Regina saw temperatures lower than the surface of Mars<\/a>, Environment Canada said.<\/p>\n

The disruptions can be quite sudden. On New Year\u2019s Day 2014, Ottawa went from slushy puddles and melting temperatures to -23 C in less than 24 hours.<\/p>\n

That year, Winnipeg saw its coldest winter since 1898.<\/p>\n

Windsor, Calgary, Red Deer, Kenora and a handful of other cities across Canada saw snow records being set. In Saskatoon, there was snow on the ground for six months.<\/p>\n

The constant snowfall caused salt shortages across many parts of the country.<\/p>\n

\u2014 With files from Global\u2019s Ken MacGillivray<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A polar vortex is on its way for much of Canada next week. And while it\u2019s not the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[626,1397,115546,90,56,54,55,1068],"class_list":{"0":"post-283310","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-canada","9":"tag-environment","10":"tag-polar-vortex","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom","15":"tag-weather"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}