Winter in Hawaii Feels Colder Than Usual

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Alright, huddle around Hawaii folks, bundled in your a jacket and jeans. I'm going to answer your itching curiosity of why some winters feel colder than others, in Hawaii and other places around the world. 

To start with, the polar vortex may be a one of the reasons. A polar vortex is a constant low pressure area with cold air, swirling counter-clockwise, located at the polar regions. The cold air from the polar vortex will expand from the North Pole to the South. At the bottom edges of the polar vortex is polar jet stream, which flows from west to east. The direction of the jet stream result to the northeastern areas being hit the hardest with such freezing temperatures.





During the summer, the jet stream is strong and is able to stay closer to the Northern Hemisphere, at a higher latitude. But in winter, the vortex is weaker and without that strong low-pressure system, the jet stream becomes uneven and wavy. The warm air from the Southern Hemisphere prevent the cold air from passing any further. Due to this wavy vortex in some areas of the world have colder winters than the previous one. 




Does climate change have anything to do with this?

There hasn't really been anything found for climate change having an affect on this.

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