the car: #$#^&%@!!*&?me: I'm really, really, really sorry.
We've been expanding our vocabularies since mid-December when the first series of winter storms plowed through New England. Hearing any combination of the following terms during the weather forecast usually makes us giggle a bit (and feel eternally grateful for The T) and so we'd like to share the mirth with you all. Besides, expanding the vocabulary never hurts...
Nor'easter - we're starting with one of the more widely-known terms. This is a macro-scale storm whose winds come from the northeast. More specifically, it describes a low pressure area whose center of rotation is just off the coast and whose leading winds in the left forward quadrant rotate onto land from the northeast. (Ooh! Fancy!) These storms can cause coastal flooding, erosion and gale force winds.
Wintery-mix - sounds like something you'd serve at a cocktail party, no?! This is actually an unpredictable mix of sleet, snow, and rain. Combine the aforementioned ingredients and you've got cold slop.
Polar vortex - we thought this sounded like a 5-ticket ride at the Boardwalk. Guaranteed to make you puke! However, it's actually a persistent, large-scale cyclone located near the Earth's poles, in the middle and upper troposphere and the stratosphere. It surrounds the polar highs and is part of the polar front. When this front dips down into NE, it's freeze-your-face-off cold.
Thundersnow - you got it. One particularly dramatic variation is thundersleet!
Absolute zero - If you don't remember this from your high school science class, this is a temperature of -273ºC or -460ºF. Theoretically, there is no molecular motion at this temperature. We're happy to report that this is not a regular occurrence during the New England winter.
