DENVER — The difference between weather and climate was on display in Denver Thursday as the city experienced its coldest day in 59 years with an average temperature of -15 degrees.
And it comes in a time when global warming takes many of the weather headlines.
There is a connection between weather and climate, but a single storm can’t be blamed on climate change and its occurrence can't refute it either.
Here’s what the research is showing about the connection.
Scientists have proven that human activity is causing the entire atmosphere to warm, but they have also discovered that the arctic is warming at a much faster pace than it is in the United States.
That can cause more chaotic weather patterns leading to more extreme polar vortex outbreaks in the future.
The polar jet stream controls the weather patterns in the U.S. When the arctic is extremely cold, that jet stream moves fast and remains in a tighter circle. Reducing the chances of the most extreme polar air from escaping to the south.
But since the arctic is not as cold as it used to be, the smaller temperature gradient is causing the polar jet to slow and become wavier, increasing the chances of arctic outbreaks in the States.
The result is more extreme single days cold events while overall seasonal temperatures increase. There is data that supports this.
There have now been three extreme polar vortex outbreaks in three consecutive years. Beside this week, there was one in February 2021 which crippled much of the nation's power grid in Texas. And another in September of 2020 which brought the earliest freeze in history to Denver, Colorado.
And yet, the average fall and winter temperatures on the Front Range have been on a steady rise over the last 60 years.
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