{"id":292657,"date":"2023-12-26T11:10:33","date_gmt":"2023-12-26T10:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=292657"},"modified":"2023-12-26T11:10:37","modified_gmt":"2023-12-26T10:10:37","slug":"record-cold-weather-in-the-stratosphere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=292657","title":{"rendered":"Record-Cold Weather in the\u00a0Stratosphere"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Spaceweather.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By DR.TONY PHILLIPS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dec. 24, 2023:<\/strong>\u00a0(Spaceweather.com<\/a>) Now we know why polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) have\u00a0suddenly exploded<\/a>. According to NASA\u2019s MERRA-2 climate model, temperatures in the Arctic stratosphere just hit a 40-year record low for the month of December:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Cold air in the stratosphere is exactly what PSCs require. Normally, the stratosphere has no clouds at all. But when the temperature drops to a staggeringly-low -85 C, widely-spaced water molecules coalesce into ice crystals and PSCs begin to form. Their aurora-like colors make them the most beautiful clouds on Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PSCs are normally confined to the Arctic where the stratosphere is coldest. During this week\u2019s extreme cold wave, the clouds descended all the way to mid-latitudes. Here they are over Locarno, Switzerland (+46N):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI saw these clouds for the first time on Dec. 22nd,\u201d says photographer Branca Cristina. \u201cThe colors were amazing!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, the clouds were sighted in Torun, Italy<\/a> (+45N); the next morning they appeared again in Lausanne, Switzerland<\/a> (+47N). These are extraordinary excursions from normal PSC habitat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The season for PSCs usually starts in January. The current cold wave has given the season an early start, and could herald many more PSCs in the weeks ahead. To help sky watchers catch these rare clouds, we will henceforth publish daily predictions of temperatures in the Arctic stratosphere. When the air temperature drops below the \u201cType II PSC\u201d green line, it\u2019s time to look for PSCs.\u00a0Check out the forecast here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cold air in the stratosphere is exactly what PSCs require. Normally, the stratosphere has no clouds at all. But when the temperature drops to a staggeringly-low -85 C, widely-spaced water molecules coalesce into ice crystals and PSCs begin to form. Their aurora-like colors make them the most beautiful clouds on Earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":292663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Cold air in the stratosphere is exactly what PSCs require. Normally, the stratosphere has no clouds at all. But when the temperature drops to a staggeringly-low -85 C, widely-spaced water molecules coalesce into ice crystals and PSCs begin to form. Their ","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-292657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/0Branca-Cristina-IMG-20231222-WA0019_1703327190.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1e8h","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":294671,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=294671","url_meta":{"origin":292657,"position":0},"title":"The Polar Vortex Wobbled in\u00a0December","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/12\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"(Spaceweather.com) Last month, sky watchers in Europe saw something rare and beautiful. 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