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The polar vortex is hitting the brakes

climate.gov

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Re: The polar vortex is hitting the brakes

#221

Post by mathgeek »

xg15 wrote: post #178

> Second, though the impacts of March sudden warmings are very similar to those in mid-winter, spring is coming, so any Arctic air brought down in the US won't "feel" as cold compared to if it happened in January because we are in a warmer part of the year. This part seems really handwavey. Could someone explain what they mean with "warmer part of the year" if not air temperature? Increased warming through more sunli…

> so any Arctic air brought down in the US won't "feel" as cold compared to if it happened in January because we are in a warmer part of the year.

I read this pretty simply as "March is warmer than January". More hours of daylight, more direct angle, etc. Anyone living closer to the tropics knows that feeling of "it's cold but the sun is out" compared to being further away in winter.

Re: The polar vortex is hitting the brakes

#222

Post by acdha »

casper14 wrote: post #152
throwaway2037 wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They take quite a toll on ... people living in the area. How?

Honestly, it's the sound. If you live close enough, it will drive you insane.

No, it won’t. This myth was started in the 2000s by Nina Pierpont who was looking for reasons to oppose wind farms near her property but it’s been studied repeatedly and there’s no credible evidence of any significant impact. Roads are at least as noisy, and have other forms of pollution, but I’ve never seen the same people call for banning cars.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-025-04645-x

Re: The polar vortex is hitting the brakes

#223

Post by artursapek »

taberiand wrote: post #134
cosmic_cheese wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an American I’m biased, but Fahrenheit matching the 1-100 scale used in so many other things just feels nice. Maps cleanly to 0-1.0 in a float/decimal type in programming which is neat too. Feels less arbitrary even if it actually isn’t. I prefer metric otherwise but for temperature Fahrenheit just “clicks” in ways that Celsius doesn’t.

Fahrenheit doesn't match the 1-100 scale, though - Celsius does. 0 water freezes, 100 water boils.

[flagged]

Re: The polar vortex is hitting the brakes

#224

Post by xg15 »

mathgeek wrote: post #221
xg15 wrote: post #178

> Second, though the impacts of March sudden warmings are very similar to those in mid-winter, spring is coming, so any Arctic air brought down in the US won't "feel" as cold compared to if it happened in January because we are in a warmer part of the year. This part seems really handwavey. Could someone explain what they mean with "warmer part of the year" if not air temperature? Increased warming through more sunli…

> so any Arctic air brought down in the US won't "feel" as cold compared to if it happened in January because we are in a warmer part of the year. I read this pretty simply as "March is warmer than January". More hours of daylight, more direct angle, etc. Anyone living closer to the tropics knows that feeling of "it's cold but the sun is out" compared to being further away in winter.

Yeah, that makes sense. I was tripped up a bit because "march is warmer" sounds to me like an effect, not a cause - and it becomes paradoxical if there is a massive cold front underway at the same time.

But if they mean, there are other seasonal factors - such as daylight - that counteract the cold spell, which aren't there in winter, it makes more sense.

Re: The polar vortex is hitting the brakes

#225

Post by codr7 »

acdha wrote: post #222
casper14 wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, it's the sound. If you live close enough, it will drive you insane.

No, it won’t. This myth was started in the 2000s by Nina Pierpont who was looking for reasons to oppose wind farms near her property but it’s been studied repeatedly and there’s no credible evidence of any significant impact. Roads are at least as noisy, and have other forms of pollution, but I’ve never seen the same people call for banning cars. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-025-04645-x

Right, so people who claim to have this experience are lying, for no good reason.

While people who have a lot to gain from hiding problems with wind turbines are telling the truth.

Isn't that always how it works?

Re: The polar vortex is hitting the brakes

#226

Post by codr7 »

jmb99 wrote: post #157
casper14 wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, it's the sound. If you live close enough, it will drive you insane.

A buddy of mine has two on his property, one within a stones’ throw of his house and barns. Not only does the sound not drive him insane, I couldn’t hear it (at all ), nor any of the other ~600 in the area.

It depends a lot on geography and (obviously) winds in the area.

I can assure you that it's very real, and very harmful on a daily basis.

Re: The polar vortex is hitting the brakes

#227

Post by CoastalCoder »

leke wrote: post #200
zeagle wrote: post #6

Interesting article. We are past the usual -20 or lower six weeks where I am so feels like a typical year. If I choose a random northern place like Rankin Inlet NU it is still cold up there with a low of -33 tonight. It is a sign of the times when I think huh, climate.gov… is that a reputable source?

Disclaimer Climate.gov’s Polar Vortex Blog is written, edited, and moderated by Amy Butler (NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory) and Laura Ciasto (NOAA Climate Prediction Center), with editorial and graphics support from the Climate.gov team (NOAA Climate Program Office). These are blog posts by subject matter experts, not official agency communications; if you quote from these posts or from the comments section, you s…

If they're making the blog posts in their capacity as NOAA employees, on an NOAA web page, wouldn't that imply that these are "official agency communications"?

Or is there some distinction I'm missing?

Re: The polar vortex is hitting the brakes

#228

Post by pgkr »

Supersaiyan_IV wrote: post #37

Doing climate research in Fahrenheit in 2025 gives me second hand embarrassment.

What makes you think the research was done in Fahrenheit? This is a blog post by a science communicator who’s trying to reach a wide audience of American-English speakers. It stands to reason that they’d use units that their audience is familiar with.

Re: The polar vortex is hitting the brakes

#229

Post by codr7 »

wingworks wrote: post #196
bee_rider wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How close were you? I’ve been on a campus with a wind turbine, don’t recall any sound. But I didn’t get directly under the thing.

I used to live down the hill from 1, and 99% of the time could hear nothing. But on a lucky day when the wind was in the right direction and right strength, you could just hear a faint woosh woosh woosh. Personally I liked the sound. But we only had 1, so maybe different with many more. Though never heard the wind farms I've stopped by.

Wind, and moving shadows when the sun is behind them.

I find both annoying to live with daily.

And it's not like its a problem that couldn't be solved; I like the idea of wind turbines, just not at any cost.

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