This is the current 'visual' satellite of the vortex bringing heat to the Arctic circle. It is called the "Arctic Oscillation' (click here) which is only one oscillation manifested in tropospheric vortices that provide heat transfer to ice formations of Earth.
This is a 1999 article at the link above:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FROM: Vince Stricherz206-543-2580vinces@u.washington.edu
DATE: Dec. 16, 1999
Evidence mounts for Arctic Oscillation's impact on northern climate
SAN FRANCISCO - A growing body of evidence indicates that a climate phenomenon called the Arctic Oscillation has wide-ranging effects in the Northern Hemisphere and operates differently from other known climate cycles.
The evidence indicates the acceleration of a counterclockwise spinning ring of air around the polar region could be responsible for warmer winters in Scandinavia and Siberia, thinning of the stratospheric ozone layer, and significant changes in surface winds that might have contributed to Arctic ice thinning.
"These changes at high latitudes could be part of human-induced climate change," said John M. Wallace, a University of Washington atmospheric sciences professor.
Wallace, David Thompson, a doctoral student conducting research at the UW-based Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Oceans, and Mark Baldwin, a research scientist with Northwest Research Associates Inc. of Bellevue, Wash., discussed the implications of the Arctic Oscillation during a news conference today at the American Geophysical Union's fall meeting in San Francisco.
The Arctic Oscillation is a seesaw pattern in which atmospheric pressure at polar and middle latitudes fluctuates between positive and negative phases. The negative phase brings higher-than-normal pressure over the polar region and lower-than-normal pressure at about 45 degrees north latitude. The positive phase brings the opposite conditions, steering ocean storms farther north and bringing wetter weather to Alaska, Scotland and Scandinavia and drier conditions to areas such as California, Spain and the Middle East.
Elevation :: 33 ft / 10 m
Temperature :: 63 °F / 17 °C
Conditions :: Clear
Humidity :: 52%
Dew Point ;; 45 °F / 7 °C
Wind :: 4 mph / 6 km/h / 1.5 m/s from the SW
Pressure :: 29.86 in / 1011 hPa (Falling)
Visibility :: 10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV :: 8 out of 16
Clouds :: Clear
(Above Ground Level)
