An area stretching from Texas to Tennessee braced Wednesday for the possible arrival of freezing rain and snow even as some other parts of the U.S. hit by the plunging polar vortex this week began to shake off its icy effects.

An area stretching from Texas to Tennessee braced Wednesday for the expected arrival of freezing rain and snow, as some other parts of the country that already received an arctic blast this week prepared to go another round with the plunging polar vortex.

as some other parts of the country that already received an arctic blast this week prepared to go another round with the plunging polar vortex. Arkansas' capital, Little Rock, closed schools on ...

as some other parts of the country that already received an arctic blast this week prepared to go another round with the plunging polar vortex. Arkansas’ capital, Little Rock, closed schools on ...

Arkansas’ capital, Little Rock, closed schools on Thursday ... all the way to the Virginia and North Carolina coasts. The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole ...

An area stretching from Texas to Tennessee braced Wednesday for the possible arrival of freezing rain and snow even as some other parts of the U.S. hit by the plunging polar vortex this week began to shake off its icy effects.

According to the NWS, the Arctic polar vortex is a powerful band of west-to-east winds that develops in the stratosphere, about 10 to 30 miles above the North Pole, during the winter season. It is always present near the poles, though it weakens during summer and intensifies in winter.

DENVER — A powerful arctic cold front arrived in Colorado on Friday and will keep the state very cold until Wednesday. The temperature could be below freezing for at least 114 consecutive hours ...

A new blast of Arctic air sweeping from north to south will bring bone-chilling temperatures to millions of Americans this weekend and next week.

things get a little chaotic. A weaker jet stream becomes wavy and unstable, like a loose rope in the wind. This instability allows cold Arctic air from the polar vortex to spill southward into ...

But during the winter, it is joined by a second atmospheric phenomenon dubbed the polar vortex. This swirl of frigid air, located more than 10 miles above Earth’s surface, strengthens each year ...

These outbreaks can happen when the polar vortex is in a weaker state, allowing cold air that is normally confined to the north to break off and move further south. Some experts say this is ...