Polar vortex 2025: Meteorologists sound alarm over brutal cold to hit US

The U.S. is set to feel the impacts of an Arctic polar vortex next week, meteorologists have warned, with sub-zero temperatures possible across much of the country.

Why It Matters

Meteorologists explained that polar vortex intrusions are usually not disruptive, however, they can occasionally lead to cold air outbreaks and winter storms, which may affect travel conditions and cause school closures due to heavy snowfall.

The U.S. has faced multiple winter storms this season.

A worker plows snow from the sidewalk of 13th Street NW on February 11, 2025, in Washington D.C.

Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

What To Know

According to the Severe Weather Europe website—an online resource of global weather forecasts—a mass of cold air, spurred by the polar vortex, has been forecast to move over Canada and the northern United States around mid-February, potentially leading to colder temperatures and increased snowfall.

The return of the vortex “could set the stage for a widespread winter storm,” said meteorologist Ben Noll on X (formerly Twitter).

The Arctic polar vortex, as described by the National Weather Service (NWS), is a strong band of west-to-east winds that forms in the stratosphere, 10 to 30 miles above the North Pole, during winter.

This phenomenon is a constant presence near the poles, growing weaker in the summer and strengthening in the winter.

During winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the polar vortex often expands, pushing cold air southward along with the jet stream.

“This occurs fairly regularly during wintertime and is often associated with large outbreaks of Arctic air in the United States,” the NWS said on its website.

Meteorologists at AccuWeather have already forecast that a winter storm could hit the U.S. next week.

What People Are Saying

Atlanta First News meteorologist Ella Dorsey posted on X: “Andddd here comes winter again. The polar vortex returns next week across the U.S. Sub-0 temps are likely across much of the country Tuesday through Friday! This is a look at morning lows next Friday. Yikes.”

Meteorologist Ryan Maue said on X: “Models trended significantly colder overnight. There’s little doubt about next week being a ‘climate emergency’ with extreme cold—perhaps historical—wrecking the central United States. The Polar Vortex is unleashed at maximum ferocity.”

James Peacock, a meterorologist at MetSwift, wrote on X: “Following a substantial stretching, but not splitting of the stratospheric polar vortex, there’s often a major export of cold air from the Arctic across a chunk of the U.S.

“No exception next week, except the magnitude of the event looks exceptional.”