To understand what Americans are experiencing with this winter blast, we need to look more than 20 miles above the surface of Earth, to the stratospheric polar vortex. What creates a severe winter storm like this? Sometimes the stratospheric polar vortex can stretch southward over the United States. When that happens, it creates ideal conditions for the up-and-down movement of waves that connect the stratosphere with severe winter weather at the surface. But that does not mean severe winter weather will never happen again.

Source: The Telegraph January 26, 2026 06:52 UTC