A Polar Vortex Is Set To Grip Much of The U.S. This Weekend: What Does That Mean? NPR
NPR, Jan. 17, 2025.
Bone-chilling temperatures will envelop millions of Americans this weekend, shepherding in days of frigid temperatures and life-threatening conditions for next week.
People living "basically anywhere from the Rockies eastward will see below-normal temperatures over the next several days," said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center. "Particularly the Rockies, the northern Plains, the Upper Midwest, are expected to see those wind chill readings as low as minus 30 to perhaps as low as minus 40 or minus 50 by this weekend into early next week." Temperatures so low pose a great risk of hypothermia and frostbite to any exposed skin, Taylor warned.
These conditions are all thanks to a familiar sounding occurrence: the polar vortex, a large area of low pressure and cold air that surrounds the Earth's poles. The "vortex" is the counterclockwise flow of air that helps keep the colder air close to the North and South Poles. But often during winter, the polar vortex will expand, bringing its cold air south and causing these notoriously large outbreaks of chilly temperatures.
"This will be one of the more far-reaching cold air outbreaks of the season so far," Taylor said.
Areas unaccustomed to freezing, or below freezing, forecasts like the South and Mid-Atlantic won't be spared and could reach some daily record cold temperatures, Taylor said. Monday's forecasts for areas including Dallas, Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., indicate high temperatures will fall below freezing. The morning low temperatures may drop below freezing as far south as Houston, New Orleans and Tallahassee, Fla., on Monday and Tuesday mornings — between 20 and 30 degrees below normal for this time of year, Taylor said.
But elsewhere in the country — where it will, no doubt still be really, really, cold — the weather is not expected to break any major records, Taylor said. "The forecast temperatures and the wind chill readings are certainly worth noting, and again, could be dangerous to life-threatening for some areas, regardless of whether it breaks a record or not."...
https://www.npr.org/2025/01/17/nx-s1-5262416/polar-vortex-cold-weather-forecast
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