Polar Vortex 2014 - This week, a pile of chilly air moving from the north will drop much of the US into Arctic conditions. The cold is similar to what was experienced during the 2014 polar vortex. Forecasters warned that a bitter storm of icy air is set to chill the eastern two thirds of the nation in some of the coldest temperatures of the winter season.
A year ago this week, temperatures across most of the lower 48 states were dropping to the lowest levels seen in about three decades that introduced the weather term of 2014, "Polar Vortex." And exactly a year later, it happened again. According to the International Business Times, the winter déjà vu is expected to bring subfreezing temperatures.
The plunging of temperatures similar to the polar vortex of 2014 will bring freezing cold weather in some areas, as low as 40 degrees Fahrenheit below zero, to almost every corner of the country's east of the Rocky Mountains as well as threatening snow and strong winds to parts of the Northwest and Northeast.
"This is going to be a big cold outbreak, pretty windy as well," National Weather Service meteorologist Paul Kocin told the CBS News. "It's going to drive all the way down South."
There are significant variances between the extreme cold that is already snaking its way south from Siberia, across the North Pole, down across Canada, and into the Upper Midwest, and the 2014 Arctic freeze. Mashable reported the cold is connected with a sway in the polar vortex, or what one meteorologist has termed a "wayward" piece of the polar vortex.
According to weather experts, the cold conditions are typical of the winter seasons in the US. However, it could bring below-average temperatures for this time of year. NBC News reported the cold will slam the Upper Plains first on Tuesday before moving into the Midwest by midweek and then the Northeast on Thursday. Meteorologists additionally warn of dangerous conditions in the Plains, Midwest and the East Coast when the cold rush hits.
Similar to the polar vortex in 2014, the impact of the Arctic blast has already been felt in New Hampshire and Illinois. Over the weekend, officials issued a winter weather advisory for Chicago after dropping temperatures and a snowstorm that dumped several inches over northern Illinois. On Sunday, over 230 flights out of O'Hare International Airport were cancelled, the Chicago Tribune reported. While across the nation, more than 800 flights were canceled or delayed.
Meanwhile, as these cold conditions are comparable to what was experienced during the 2014 polar vortex, experts warned that exposed skin can succumb to frostbite, a serious injury in which skin tissue is permanently damaged due to the cold.
"People need to be careful because of the frostbite threat," the Weather Channel lead meteorologist Kevin Roth told NBC. "It's going to be bitter. Kids heading out to the school bus need to make sure they are wrapped up warm and have their skin covered up. It will be the coldest weather most people have experienced this winter."
During winter, the polar vortex is a big pocket of cold air that hangs above the northernmost region of the Northern Hemisphere. Though not a recently discovered phenomenon, the term became widely used in January 2014, when Arctic air slumped into Canada and brought record-breaking temperatures.
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