The freezing cold has arrived! Is global warming to blame?

It is difficult to blame global warming, but the weather is unusual.

A freezing airmass is dipping into the lower 48 states, causing temperatures to plunge as much as 35 below average. Snow and ice are making life difficult for many people in the central U.S., and the polar cold is expected to move east in the next few days.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) -- From Seattle to Chicago, freezing cold temperatures are settling across the country and due to move east in the next few days. Only California and parts of Florida appear immune.

The culprit is a polar airmass that developed over Alaska and is now moving south and east. An upper-level low is moving east over Canada while the jet stream, is dipping as far south as the Southern states.

Only California is being spared the worst of the cold airmass which is causing blizzard conditions in Canada and the northern states. California is protected by the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains which are channeling most of the air to the east. The state will see some rain from another system out of the Gulf of Alaska while Southern California will remain clear to cloudy with little to no rainfall at all, making it the place to be.

The cold airmass will move slowly across the U.S., and it will remain cold until well into next week, when temperatures will begin to warm to near normal.

Already, closures of schools, government offices and businesses are widespread. Freeways and highways have been closed, especially in central Canada, which is experiencing blizzard conditions.

According to some, the weakening of the jet stream is the product of a warming Arctic. As the air over the Arctic warms, it causes the jet stream to meander more. The jet stream, is important because it acts as a barrier between the Arctic air from the north and the more mild air from the south. As the jet stream develops dips and kinks, cold airmasses, which are normally confined to the Arctic, can dip farther south. This is how a warm stretch at the Arctic can mean freezing temperatures in North America. In fact, pars of the eastern U.S> are projected to become cooler under global warming models.

For most Americans, the cold will simply be an inconvenience or a reason to skip school or work. The cold weather is unusually early, but it is not unprecedented. The link between the cold weather and global warming is wide open for dispute and following the El Nino disruption of the Arctic weather, some unusual weather is expected well into the winter season.

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