Polar Vortex

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This isn't exactly right. The difference is the stratospheric polar vortex fills and sinks very slowly compared to its rate of spin. The spin is more due to the spin of the earth deflecting winds to the right (coriolis effect) though, which is not the case in a toilet.

Also, in winter the high pressure is in the lower troposphere while the low pressure is in the stratosphere. Think of it like this: a column of cold air is comparatively thick on the bottom, but thin on the top. This is because cold air is more dense and settles into a thinner layer. To compensate for the thickness in the lower troposphere, the air must be thinner above (in order for the total weight of the air column to remain the same).

They always claim that the toilet thing IS caused by the coreoulis effect.

Whatever..

The point is that though a hurricane IS a vortex at ground level( a low pressure zone the draws air in like a sink drain draws in water) a polar vortex is not a vortex on the ground. It is a high pressure zone that sends winds away from its center. We on the ground get the cold northern winds coming at us from the pole. So on the ground a polar vortex looks like the opposite of a "vortex" (opposite of how a drain works). Its only a "vortex" in the upper atmosphere. The low pressure is above the weather in the stratosphere/upper troposhere where it is low pressure, and where upper level air IS drawn in from the lower latitudes (before that air chills and sinks down into the lower atmosphere.

No, it's caused by the direction of the water jets and/or the shape of the bowl. The coriolis effect only operates on a large scale.


Yea, the polar vortex is the exact opposite of a hurricane. A hurricane is fueled by heating in the troposphere (via water condensation) whereas the polar vortex is driven by cooling in both the troposphere and stratosphere (via radiation to space). A hurricane is a surface-based low pressure anomaly, whereas the polar vortex is an upper level low pressure anomaly.

However, there are surface-based low-pressure systems that circle the outer edge of the polar vortex. These low-pressure centers develop as waves along the outer edge of the polar cold-pool, with warm fronts, cold fronts, and associated precipitation.

It requires some difficult math to prove, but the net effect of these waves of low pressure is to draw the westerly winds of the polar vortex downward and equator-ward over time. The lower part of the polar vortex can become unstable causing it to actually break into two or more sub-vortices. Usually these sub-vortices break off over the continents in the northern hemisphere. This phenomenon corresponds to prolonged cold-outbreaks over North America and Siberia. It is the tropospheric portion of the polar vortex that can break up.

It's bloody cold outside.
People have been advised to stay inside as frost bite will set in in minutes. The air is literally so cold it will burn your skin.
I was born in this climate and have spent 46 winters in it. I don't know if it is getting worse or if I am getting less patient. But I'm fed up with it.