North Pole Heat Wave Hits Courtesy Of Storm Frank
North Pole temperatures are rising above freezing due to the impact of Storm Frank. Weather experts predict that the Arctic area could “unfreeze” as the typically frigid temperatures in the region soar by as much as 50 degrees. Only once before has the North Pole gone above 35 degrees. Such an occurrence has never been known to happen in the winter months.
Unseasonably high temperatures were a trend in both North America and Europe over Christmas. The short-sleeve weather in many area brought rain and flooding instead of intense snow. The Mississippi River continues to swell, pushing its tributaries, such as the Meramec River and the Missouri River, to overflow and prompt emergency evacuations in several states.
Storm ‘unfreezes’ North Pole causing temperatures to rise 50 degrees Fahrenheit above normal https://t.co/cN5iTTYRSI pic.twitter.com/aRpXxMDuAa
— ABC News (@ABC) December 31, 2015
Storm Frank has brought forth a “deep low pressure” system that created 30-foot waves in the North Atlantic and 75-knot hurricane force wind over Ireland, Raw Story reports. The mid-winter storm system was described as being both “violent” and “extremely powerful” by Canadian government meteorologist Nathalie Hasell.
“This deep depression has pushed hot air as far as the North Pole, where temperatures are at least 20 degrees above normal, at around freezing point, between zero and two degrees,” Hasell added.
Washington Post meteorologist Jason Samenow appears to agree with the North Pole storm assessment made by his north neighbor. Samenow called the powerful low pressure system comprising Storm Frank “mind-boggling.”
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Storm Frank’s wind pressure plummeted rapidly increased by more than 50 millibars in just the 24 hours between Monday and Tuesday. As the storm moves into the North Pole region, meteorologists began calling the winter storm front a “bomb cyclone.” The unofficial weather term is often used to describe a pressure drop of at least 24 millibars in 24 hours or less.
Storm ‘unfreezes’ North Pole causing temperatures to rise 50 degrees Fahrenheit above normal https://t.co/cN5iTTYRSIpic.twitter.com/aRpXxMDuAa
— ABC News (@ABC) December 31, 2015
Temperatures at the North Pole had registered at a typical -37 degrees on Monday, according to the readings revealed by an Arctic weather monitoring point located approximately 180 miles from the Pole. By Wednesday, the temperature had increased to -8 degrees. While any reading below zero, or even in the single digits may sound unbearably cold to many folks, such a jump in temperature is significantly rare and potentially problematic for the region.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) revealed on Wednesday that satellite readings from the North Pole indicate that temperatures did go above 32 degrees “for a brief time,” according to a Telegraph report.
“As the North Pole is over the Arctic Ocean [which is frozen most of the year], NOAA does not have land-based temperature gauges there,” a NOAA representative also noted.
Storm Frank caused massive flooding in the United Kingdom and is expected to wreak havoc in the Siberian area of Russia after it rolls out of the North Atlantic region. El Niño may be causing the bizarre weather conditions, according to meteorologist experts. Both the people of Siberia and the Nunavut Territory of Canada feel like they are in the midst of a heat wave. In the Canadian territory where the Inuit and Iqaluit tribes lived, temperatures were a balmy -4.6 degrees instead of the usual -21 degrees. Earlier this month, Baffin Island was not covered in its usual snow and ice, but inundated with rain, according to Canadian environmental officials.
What do you think about the effects of the El Niño and Storm Frank on the North Pole? Will the Pole thaw and cause harm to the animals and the environment?
[Image via Shutterstock]
