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ARCTIC AIR MASS

METEOROLOGIST JEFF HABY

The source region for Arctic (A) air is northern Canada and Siberia. Frigid and dry air in Siberia can cross over the North Pole and spill into the North American continent. Arctic air has the same characteristics as Polar air except it is colder with even lower dewpoints. This air often forms when a high-pressure area becomes nearly stationary over Eastern Alaska, the Yukon, Siberia or northern Canada. Due to a near lack of winter solar radiation, abundant surface snow / ice cover and the continuous emission of radiation from the Earth's surface the air will progressively become colder and colder. Temperatures can reach -30 degrees F to -60 degrees F. If the jet stream becomes meridional during the same time frame Arctic air builds, very cold air will spread into Southern Canada and the U.S. Once Arctic air moves into the Southern U.S. it modifies to Polar air and then eventually to modified Polar Air behind the cold front boundary.