It's exceedingly rare for the temperature to be warmer in the Arctic than in Las Vegas, but that's exactly what's happening this week.
On Thursday, the temperature climbed to 46 degrees in the Svalbard Islands. Keep in mind that those islands sit half way between the North Pole and mainland Norway. It's also completely dark there this time of year. At the same time, Las Vegas sat in the low 40s.
The average high for this time of year around the Svalbard Islands is just 15.
The reason for the incredible northern warm up has to do with a massive storm blowing through the Atlantic. That storm's pressure, according to the Ocean Prediction Center, dropped to 928 mb this week. Remember, the lower the pressure, the stronger the storm. A pressure that low is often found in Category 5 hurricanes.
The storm is helping to shove warm, tropical air all the way into the Arctic Circle. Meanwhile, on the back side of that ocean storm, cold air is flooding back down in parts of North America.
It will take a few more days for conditions to return to more seasonable levels in the Arctic Circle.