The stratospheric polar vortex is a westerly circulation that forms over the winter pole around 10-50 km above the surface, which is known to influence mid-latitude weather patterns. During 2018-19, the Arctic polar vortex demonstrated an unusually large amount of variability, including a strong and persistent sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event, a strong vortex event, and a dynamic final stratospheric warming (FSW). In this article we discuss the evolution of the vortex, placing it in the context of wider observed climatology, and comment on its apparent impacts on tropospheric weather patterns – notably, the lack of a surface climate response to the SSW of similar magnitude to the February-March 2018 “Beast from the East” cold-wave.

中文翻译：

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2018-2019 年北极平流层极涡

平流层极地涡旋是一种西风环流，在地表上方约 10-50 公里的冬季极地形成，已知会影响中纬度天气模式。2018-19年期间，北极极地涡旋表现出异常大的变化，包括强烈而持续的平流层突然变暖（SSW）事件、强涡旋事件和动态最终平流层变暖（FSW）。在本文中，我们将讨论涡旋的演变，将其置于更广泛的观测气候学背景下，并评论其对对流层天气模式的明显影响——尤其是缺乏与 2 月类似规模的 SSW 的地表气候响应。 - 2018年3月“东方野兽”寒潮。