It has been decades since parts of the U.S. experienced a deep freeze like the one expected to arrive Sunday, with potential record-low temperatures heightening fears of frostbite and hypothermia.
This "polar vortex," as one meteorologist calls it, is caused by a counterclockwise-rotating pool of cold, dense air.
The frigid air, piled up at the North Pole, will be pushed down to the U.S., funneling it as far south as the Gulf Coast.
Ryan Maue, a meteorologist, said records will likely be broken during the short yet forceful deep freeze -- a perfect combination of the jet stream, cold surface temperatures and the polar vortex -- that will begin Sunday and extend into early next week.
The predictions are startling: 25 below zero Fahrenheit (31 below zero Celsius) in Fargo, North Dakota, minus 31 F (minus 35 C) in International Falls, Minnesota, and 15 below F (26 below C) in Indianapolis and Chicago.
The cold will sweep through parts of the northeastern New England states, too, where residents will have just dug out from a snowstorm, and fresh powder is expected in parts of the Midwest and South starting Saturday night -- up to a foot in St. Louis, 6 to 8 inches in central Illinois, 8 or more inches in Kentucky and a half-foot to a foot in Michigan.
Even places accustomed to mild and warmer winters will be affected early next week, including Atlanta where Tuesday's high is expected to hover in the mid-20s.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/temperature-records-could-fall-as-u-s-braces-for-polar-vortex-conditions-1.1617619
This "polar vortex," as one meteorologist calls it, is caused by a counterclockwise-rotating pool of cold, dense air.
The frigid air, piled up at the North Pole, will be pushed down to the U.S., funneling it as far south as the Gulf Coast.
Ryan Maue, a meteorologist, said records will likely be broken during the short yet forceful deep freeze -- a perfect combination of the jet stream, cold surface temperatures and the polar vortex -- that will begin Sunday and extend into early next week.
The predictions are startling: 25 below zero Fahrenheit (31 below zero Celsius) in Fargo, North Dakota, minus 31 F (minus 35 C) in International Falls, Minnesota, and 15 below F (26 below C) in Indianapolis and Chicago.
The cold will sweep through parts of the northeastern New England states, too, where residents will have just dug out from a snowstorm, and fresh powder is expected in parts of the Midwest and South starting Saturday night -- up to a foot in St. Louis, 6 to 8 inches in central Illinois, 8 or more inches in Kentucky and a half-foot to a foot in Michigan.
Even places accustomed to mild and warmer winters will be affected early next week, including Atlanta where Tuesday's high is expected to hover in the mid-20s.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/temperature-records-could-fall-as-u-s-braces-for-polar-vortex-conditions-1.1617619