Thanks to climate change, the weather roasting California and freezing the East may thrive

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Thanks to climate change, the weather roasting California and freezing the East may thrive

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Capital Weather Gang

Thanks to climate change, the weather roasting California and freezing the East may thrive

By Jason Samenow December 6 at 10:42 AM

The explosive brush fires raging in Southern California and the frigid weather about to grip the eastern U.S. are connected. They are the consequences of an extreme jet pattern that makes the West hot and dry, and simultaneously the East cold. And new research reveals climate change and shrinking sea ice may help this pattern of wild contrasts develop more frequently.

The overarching weather pattern responsible for the contrasting extremes between the coasts is known as the North American Winter Dipole. It is fancy term to describe abnormally warm conditions in the West and cold conditions in the East. Under such a pattern, the jet stream, the super highway for storms that divides cold and warm air, surges north in the western half of the nation, and crashes south in the eastern half.



GFS model simulation of the high-altitude weather pattern Saturday — which shows the jet stream bulging in the West, forming a ridge and crashing in the East, forming a trough. (WeatherBell.com)

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Jason is the Washington Post’s weather editor and Capital Weather Gang's chief meteorologist. He earned a master's degree in atmospheric science, and spent 10 years as a climate change science analyst for the U.S. government. He holds the Digital Seal of Approval from the National Weather Association.
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