For the music genre, see Cold wave (music). For the leading edge of a cooler mass of air, see Cold front.
"Cold snap" redirects here. For other uses, see Cold snap (disambiguation).
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A cold wave (known in some regions as a cold snap, cold spell or Arctic Snap) is a weather phenomenon that is distinguished by a cooling of the air. Specifically, as used by the U.S. National Weather Service, a cold wave is a rapid fall in temperature within a 24-hour period requiring substantially increased protection to agriculture, industry, commerce, and social activities. The precise criteria for a cold wave are the rate at which the temperature falls, and the minimum to which it falls. This minimum temperature is dependent on the geographical region and time of year.[1]
In the United States, a cold spell is defined as the national average high temperature dropping below 20 °F (−7 °C).[2] A cold wave of sufficient magnitude and duration may be classified as a cold air outbreak (CAO).[3][4]
^"Cold Wave". AMS: Glossary of Meteorology. Archived from the original on 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2008-09-25.
^Borenstein, Seth (January 10, 2014). "Winters aren't colder; we're just softer". Florida Today. Melbourne, Florida. pp. 8A. Archived from the original on January 13, 2014. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
^Smith, Erik T.; S. C. Sheridan (2018). "The characteristics of extreme cold events and cold air outbreaks in the eastern United States". Int. J. Climatol. 38: e807–e820. Bibcode:2018IJCli..38E.807S. doi:10.1002/joc.5408. S2CID 133920737.
^Smith, Erik T.; Sheridan, Scott C. (2020). "Where do Cold Air Outbreaks occur and how have they changed over time?". Geophysical Research Letters. 47 (13): e86983. Bibcode:2020GeoRL..4786983S. doi:10.1029/2020GL086983. S2CID 219424375.
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