DISCOVERY: Changes to the polar vortex that are plunging parts of US into deep freeze

If you live in the U.S. you've noticed more and stronger Polar Vortexes (and hotter summers, more extreme storms, etc.). Science is CRITICAL to explain what's happening on our planet and around the Universe. Sadly, in the U.S., the Republican Party doesn't understand that, and have Defunded Government Science agencies and fired many scientists. Ignorance doesn't help anyone. We need to understand the changing climate, and fortunately MIT Scientists have been studying how global warming (Yes, it's a reality and has been for 100 years) is affecting the Polar Vortex in Winter and bringing brutally cold temperatures to parts of the U.S. Here's the study:

(Image: Credit: NOAA) 

Scientists discover changes to the polar vortex that are plunging parts of US into deep freeze

By Stephanie Pappas Live Science, July 18, 2025

When the polar vortex stretches, North America feels the chill. New research reveals some of the stratospheric patterns controlling these cold snaps.

Though global temperatures are warming, winters in the Northern Hemisphere are still marked by cold snaps and extreme snowfall events — sometimes to an unprecedented extent, such as the 2021 deep freeze in Texas and Oklahoma that caused over $1 billion in damage.

Now, a new study suggests that these cold extremes are due to an increasingly common pattern in the polar vortex, the zone of low pressure that usually circulates over the Arctic. Disruptions to this vortex cause it to deform and stretch, spewing cold air into Canada and the U.S. These disruptions are becoming more common as the Arctic warms.

"Overwhelmingly, extreme cold and severe winter weather, heavy snowstorms and deep snow, are associated with these stretched events," study co-author Judah Cohen, the director of seasonal forecasting at Atmospheric and Environmental Research and a visiting scientist at MIT, told Live Science.

Cohen and his team looked at how these events evolve in the stratosphere, the middle layer of the atmosphere that starts about 12 miles (19 kilometers) up. Understanding how these patterns shift could help meteorologists make longer-range forecasts, said Andrea Lopez Lang, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Wisconsin—Madison who was not involved in the research.

"Knowing this information is useful for a lot of applications in energy [and] applications in insurance or reinsurance," Lang told Live Science. "How cold is it going to get? Are pipes going to burst? Are insurance claims going to spike this winter?"

Usually, the polar vortex circulates around the North Pole like a spinning top. Occasionally, it collapses dramatically, which usually leads to polar air rushing toward northern Europe and Asia. These collapses can sometimes cause cold snaps in North America — but not always.

"There's been this big question mark over what happens in North America," Lang said.