It's a term you hear every couple of winters, when we get stuck in the coldest of cold patterns – polar vortex. But what exactly is it and how does it impact our weather? The polar vortex is like a ...

January is shaping up to be the coldest in a decade as the polar vortex dips south across the eastern half of the United States — shocking a nation that has enjoyed an unusually balmy end of the year.

While meteorologists say that in most cases, polar vortex intrusions aren't disruptive, they are sometimes associated with cold air outbreaks and winter storms, which can in turn affect travel ...