The February forecast calls for more polar vortex mayhem

Greetings from the ice planet Hoth.

In fact, much of the eastern United States resembles a fictional frozen Star Wars world, and right now people there are facing some of the worst cold on Earth: “The eastern United States is projected to be the coldest place on the planet over the next 10 days,” said Washington Post meteorologist Ben Knoll.

The National Weather Service in Mount Holly, New Jersey, said “Overall, it is extremely rare for the region to receive this combination of length and magnitude of Arctic air mass, and should be taken seriously by those who will be out in the cold for extended periods of time.”

Cold weather straight from Siberia

Interestingly, “some of the cold is coming from Siberia and is contributing to the cold extremes because Siberia is the source of the coldest air in the Northern Hemisphere during winter,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology climatologist Judah Cohen told USA Today in an email.

Record-challenging cold is gripping the Midwest and Northeast this week, bringing the coldest winter in eight years to cities like Detroit, New York and Boston, AccuWeather said.

Cohen said this “extreme” to “historic” cold is courtesy of our wintertime nemesis, the polar vortex, which will continue to play a role this winter, and likely for weeks to come.

From October 2024: The often misunderstood polar vortex is reawakening

It gets colder by February

Much below-normal temperatures should last through early February across the eastern United States before moderating slightly.

And while there’s a chance for some temporary relief, the polar vortex could bring another surge of bitterly cold air to the central and eastern United States by mid-February, according to AccuWeather long-range expert Paul Pestelok. Along with this, there is a possibility of snowfall, he said.

An “extremely cold” outbreak will occur around Feb. 8-11 and there will be no improvement after that, Weather Merchant Meteorologist Ryan Maw told USA Today in an e-mail. “Talk about Groundhog Day,” he said.

Meanwhile, warmth will be widespread across the western half of the country for most of the month, according to AccuWeather.

The map shows the temperature forecast for February

A map from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center (below) shows that the eastern United States will continue to be cold for most of the month, while the West remains warm.

When will these cold attacks end?

“They appear to continue through at least mid-February and possibly beyond, but my uncertainty is very high,” Cohen said. “So far this winter, I was pretty confident that I could find another diffuse polar vortex that would bring in winter. We have at least one more polar vortex in early February.”

When the polar vortex “pulls in,” cold air typically funnels into the central and eastern United States. When it’s “strong,” the cold is usually bottled in the Arctic and Canada.

“But beyond that, we may see a large polar vortex disruption, and it’s very difficult to predict how that will affect our climate,” he said. “I don’t expect the polar vortex to strengthen and return to normal by then [meteorological] Winter is over [Feb. 28]. It may strengthen again in March, but it’s a pure guessing game at this point as to when and how it might affect our weather.”

Contributing: Amanda Wallace, NorthJersey,.com.

Doyle Rice is a national correspondent for USA Today, focusing on weather and climate.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: More Polar Vortex Mayhem Forecasted in February 2026