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"A phenomenon known as a polar vortex is dominating headlines across the country as it brings the coldest gust of winter air in decades. Affecting up to 187 million people and putting 26 states under warnings or watches, temperatures have reached unbearable lows thanks to the artic cyclone. So what exactly is a polar vortex? Despite sounding like something straight out of a sci-fi movie, Frank Giannasca, senior meteorologist with The Weather Channel, describes it as a &amp;quot;great swirling pool of extremely cold air located tens of thousands of feet in the atmosphere.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Think of this as a polar hurricane,&amp;quot; adds NBC News&amp;#039;s Al Roker. Record low temperatures in the Midwest have forced states to cancel flights and close schools and daycare centers. Several cities such as Chicago are dealing with daytime temperatures below zero. And the snow, ice and cold have been blamed for several deaths since Saturday. Authorities are warning people not to leave their homes unless they need to go someplace safer. The East and South also have highs in the single digits, and subzero wind chills are expected up and down the coast, including -10\u00B0F in Atlanta and -12\u00B0F in Baltimore. Last night, New York City experienced a &amp;quot;weather whiplash&amp;quot; after temps in Manhattan&amp;#039;s Central Park dropped from 55\u00B0F to just 5 in a matter of hours. This is the coldest Central Park has been on January 7 since 1896, according to NBC New York. While the deep freeze isn&amp;#039;t expected to last for long, Giannasca said that like anything weather-related, &amp;quot;it&amp;#039;s hard to say&amp;quot; if a polar vortex like this will happen again this winter. The good news: only 5 more months until summer! How are you dealing with the polar vortex? Share in the comments below. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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