Word: circumpolar
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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This crazy-quilt winter weather was the result of erratic changes in the usual pattern of westerly winds-especially the high-altitude jet stream-that whip across the U.S. Part of a broader global feature known as the circumpolar vortex, the winds in winter usually follow a sharply undulating path round the Northern Hemisphere, like the bottom of a whirling crinoline skirt. Sweeping northeast over the Pacific, the winds pick up warmth and moisture. Heading down again from the cold north, they cause heavy rain and snowstorms from the Rockies through the heartland to New England...