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Polar Vortices, Naming Winter Storms, And Other Meteorological Dilemmas

Tom Purves via Flickr Creative Commons

The polar vortex?  Frost-quakes?  Winter Storm "Hercules"?  Winter weather forecasts have had a decidedly apocalyptic ring to them as of late. And yes, it did get pretty darn frigid last week... but how cold was the polar vortex comparedto previous cold snaps?  We asked Jason Samenow, Weather Editor for the Washington Post to help us understand the sensationalism inherent in winter weather forecasting.

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