The troposphere is shallower over the poles. More condensed due to the frigid reality there. So, the altitude to water vapor is less there. I would not recommend traveling to the North Pole right now. It takes heat to create a storm like that.
Satellite photo acquired August 7, 2012
An unusually large, long-lasting, and powerful cyclone was churning over the Arctic in early August 2012. Two smaller systems merged on August 5 to form the storm, which at the time occupied much of the Beaufort-Chukchi Sea and Canadian Basin. On average, Arctic cyclones last about 40 hours; as of August 9, 2012, this storm had lasted more than five days....
