Cold waves dip into regions of the world and bring vast expanses of cold in the area. Learn more about them here…

As the temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere get colder, the cold wave season is starting to begin. When they come, they can cause major problems in the affected areas, damaging infrastructure and disrupting people’s daily routines. In this post, learn more about what causes a cold wave, the effects of cold waves, and more.

This post is all about cold waves

Snappy Cold Waves

What is a Cold Wave?

The first section of this post will be about a cold wave. A cold wave is a significant drop in temperature in the time frame of 24 hours or less. They usually happen on a large scale, affecting multiple regions. There can be a lot of causes for this type of weather phenomenon, learn more about those causes in the next section.

What Causes a Cold Wave?

What causes a cold wave? One cause that is very common in the Northern Hemisphere is the Polar Vortex. The Polar Vortex sits over the north pole as a circle north of the jet stream in the winter. When the jet stream dips down while the polar vortex is active, cold air can come with it. This has brought extreme temperatures far south in the U.S. and worldwide multiple times. Another cause can be a high-pressure system during the winter. The system travels south when it forms in high latitudes, taking the air with it. The waves can result/cause other types of winter storms, too.

Types of Cold Waves

Defining the types of cold waves can be tricky because you can look at them and find their differences differently. One way to look at them is by their sizes. Localized cold snaps can happen from small weather changes, but still be just as impactful for the town that got hit. Others bring horrors across regions like states, covering the whole landmass simultaneously. You can classify them by what causes them, too.

Many other factors come into play when this weather phenomenon happens, with you being able to classify them with all of them. Here are a few more ways to look at them…

Depending on how far they go, from a few dozen miles to a cross-country trek.
Whether they form over land or water.
What other types of weather phenomenon does this cause.
Where it happens.
How intense the cold is.

Cold Wave Effects

A cold snap can have many effects in all shapes and sizes. One cold wave effect is bodies of water freezing over. The wave’s intensity can determine how much of a body of water it can freeze. In severe cold, whole lakes freeze. This is common, even if there isn’t this type of weather event. Cold temperatures cause storms that would otherwise be rainy to some other form of ice precipitation. If you want to learn more about ice weather, click here.