Arctic air stays away through end of the year
Here are my latest thoughts on the long range pattern into January.............
1. Arctic air likely remains locked up across Siberia through the end of the year and probably through the first week of January.
2. Signals are strong for a drier and milder pattern setting up across the western half of Canada through early January.
3. Confidence continues to grow that there will be a sudden stratospheric warming event over the Arctic region in about a week. These events are usually more common later in the winter. In any event, this may eventually translate to a high-latitude blocking event (polar vortex weakens or gets displaced south) by mid-January, which can lead to more extremes (major snow/rain events or cold) across the mid-latitudes from the Prairies through Atlantic Canada and the eastern U.S. for the second half of January.
<img src="https://vortex.accuweather.com/adc2004/pub/includes/columns/miscellaneous/2018/590x449_12211914_dec21a.png"/>
<img src="https://vortex.accuweather.com/adc2004/pub/includes/columns/miscellaneous/2018/590x449_12211915_dec21b.png"/>
<img src="https://vortex.accuweather.com/adc2004/pub/includes/columns/miscellaneous/2018/590x449_12211916_dec21c.png"/>
