Diameter5 million m
7.6 millionPillow lengths
13.9 trillionthsOrion Nebula diameters
Approximately 5,000 km across
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Polar Vortex
A persistent large-scale cyclone near the Earth's poles/Weather & Climate
The polar vortex is a massive low-pressure system that circulates counterclockwise around the Arctic (and clockwise around the Antarctic) in the upper atmosphere. It spans roughly 5,000 kilometers in diameter, with wind speeds reaching 100 meters per second (360 km/h) at the boundary jet stream. The stratospheric temperature inside can drop to minus 80 degrees Celsius. When the polar vortex weakens and wobbles southward, it delivers extreme cold snaps to normally temperate regions, giving weather forecasters something dramatic to talk about on the evening news.
Measurements
Jet stream wind speed100 m/s
90.9Waddling penguins
3,571Ketchup leaving the bottle
At the vortex boundary, about 360 km/h
Stratospheric temperature193 K
5.5 tenthsFresh bread loaves
5.2 tenthsBoiling water
About -80 degrees Celsius