The polar night jet, the high-altitude winter wind that circles the Arctic, acts like a flywheel for the cold season in the Northern Hemisphere. As climate change erodes the temperature contrast that ...

A rare Super El Niño is building fast. See when it could start steering storms, unlocking Arctic air and shaping an early U.S ...

A major winter storm is impacting much of the nation east of the Rocky Mountains. The storm's intensity is caused by a combination of a stretched polar vortex, a wavy jet stream, and moisture from the ...

Michigan is experiencing frigid temperatures and heavy snow due to a dip in the jet stream, not the polar vortex. The polar vortex is a large-scale cyclone of cold air that typically stays far north ...

While much of the eastern U.S. has been frozen by rounds of Arctic air and snow, the West has experienced weeks of unseasonable warmth, which has left many mountain ranges in a snow drought. A major ...

In recent years, the global climate has become increasingly extreme, with intensifying alternations of droughts and floods—particularly in ecologically vulnerable mid-latitude regions. But what is ...

Something unusual may be brewing in the stratosphere, and meteorologists say it could change the course of the winter forecast. The atmosphere is at a "critical juncture," and what happens in November ...

BUT LET’S TALK ABOUT THE POLAR VORTEX HERE. SO IT’S REALLY AN AREA OF COLD AIR THAT’S TRAPPED AROUND THE ARCTIC. AND IT’S JUST GOING TO IT USUALLY JUST STAYS PUT THERE. BUT WHEN IT WEAKENS, THAT JET ...

A severe winter storm that brought crippling freezing rain, sleet and snow to a large part of the U.S. in late January 2026 left a mess in states from New Mexico to New England. Hundreds of thousands ...

A major winter storm is impacting much of the nation east of the Rocky Mountains. The storm's intensity is caused by a combination of a stretched polar vortex, a wavy jet stream, and moisture from the ...