Weather whiplash explained

Weather whiplash is the phenomenon of rapid swings between extremes in weather,[1] which some scientists argue is caused by climate change.[2]

Occurrence

“Weather whiplash” was coined by climate-science-communicator Paul Beckwith in 2017 in his oft-stated phrase "weather wilding, weirding and whiplashing", but in 2023, Voxs Benji Jones wrote that the phrase had been in use for ten years or more. In a 2021 study in the International Journal of Climatology, Cameron C. Lee characterized it as then gaining prominence in both academia and the press.[3] As of 2019, there was no formal scientific definition for weather whiplash.[4]

Weather whiplash was observed amid the 2022 European heat waves, which parched France in one of its worst ever recorded droughts and caused the driest July for decades in England, then broke with heavy rain and flooding,[5] and rains the same summer during the Southwestern North American megadrought.[6] In late 2022 and early 2023, the phenomenon again struck North America as record cold around Christmas receded into record heat in January,[7] which in early February became even more extreme cold across the Northeastern United States.[8] In the US state of California weather events swung from an extreme drought to flooding caused by atmospheric rivers.

Weather whiplash can also bring false springs, or winter warm spells that conceal a freeze following them, and freak snowstorms early in the season; both can disrupt agriculture and the electrical grid.[9] [10]

A study in 2018 found a likelihood both extremes of precipitation would increase in California, increasing the chances of very wet years following very dry years and vice versa.

Proposed links to climate change

The polar vortex drives fluctuations in winter temperatures in the middle latitudes. Climatologist Judah Cohen and others proposed climate change in the Arctic was causing the vortex to waver, bringing cold air south to the Midwestern United States, which was then replaced by warm tropical air. They said this would increase the frequency of such whiplash in the future. Cohen acknowledged this remained a minority viewpoint as of 2023.

References

  1. Web site: Jones . Benji . January 11, 2023 . Welcome to the era of weather whiplash . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230401154602/https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/23550073/california-floods-rainfall-weather-climate-change-whiplash . April 1, 2023 . April 30, 2023 . Vox.
  2. Web site: Ramirez . Rachel . October 23, 2021 . Weather whiplash: A series of storms could ease California drought, but also unleash flood hazards . live . April 30, 2023 . . April 30, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230430191116/https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/23/weather/climate-change-atmospheric-river-california-drought/index.html .
  3. Lee . Cameron C. . June 30, 2022 . Weather whiplash: Trends in rapid temperature changes in a warming climate . . 42 . 8 . 4214–4222 . 10.1002/joc.7458 . 2022IJCli..42.4214L . 244360478 . 0899-8418 . . April 30, 2023 . April 30, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230430191116/https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/joc.7458 . live . free .
  4. Web site: Harvey . Chelsea . February 11, 2019 . How Climate Change May Affect Winter "Weather Whiplash" . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221113095339/http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-climate-change-may-affect-winter-weather-whiplash/ . November 13, 2022 . April 30, 2023 . Scientific American.
  5. Web site: Harvey . Chelsea . August 30, 2022 . 'Weather Whiplash' Withers, then Drowns Areas Worldwide . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230203224001/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/weather-whiplash-withers-then-drowns-areas-worldwide/ . February 3, 2023 . April 30, 2023 . Scientific American.
  6. Web site: Borenstein . Seth . August 23, 2022 . Weather whiplash: Summer lurches from drought to flood . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230413010738/https://apnews.com/article/summer-weather-whiplash-6d6858c5b0b90e8ce7fd61d85d7610f4 . April 13, 2023 . April 30, 2023 . Associated Press.
  7. Web site: January 5, 2023 . Weather Whiplash . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230401154223/https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/150797/weather-whiplash . April 1, 2023 . April 30, 2023 . NASA Earth Observatory.
  8. Web site: Arctic blast to deliver dangerously-low temperatures to NYC, says National Weather Service forecaster . Ostapiuk . Joseph . February 2, 2023 . . May 19, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230519211623/https://www.silive.com/weather/2023/02/arctic-blast-to-deliver-dangerously-low-temperatures-to-nyc-says-national-weather-service-forecaster.html . May 19, 2023.
  9. Web site: Bates . S. . December 21, 2018 . Drastic Shifts in Weather Give People "Winter Weather Whiplash" . live . May 2, 2023 . . May 5, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230505145428/https://eos.org/articles/drastic-shifts-in-weather-give-people-winter-weather-whiplash .
  10. Web site: Burchfield . John . April 21, 2023 . Climate Friday What are the dangers of a spring freeze for farmers? . live . May 2, 2023 . . May 2, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230502040334/https://www.wtol.com/article/weather/climate-friday/climate-change-spring-freezing-temperatures-farmers/512-70b8fec0-f51e-45a3-b014-a92fb4e108d6 .

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