why sit so cold this winter

This winter feels unusually cold in many places because several large-scale climate and weather patterns are lining up to favor stronger cold snaps, even on a warming planet. Think of it as the “plumbing” of the atmosphere temporarily redirecting deep Arctic air toward where you live.

Quick Scoop

• The planet is warming overall, but extreme cold blasts are still possible and can even be enhanced in some regions.

• A disrupted polar vortex and wobbly jet stream are helping Arctic air spill far south, creating intense freezes over North America and parts of Europe this winter.

• A weak La Niña in the Pacific and related pressure patterns are steering storm tracks and cold air in ways that favor a colder-than-normal 2025–2026 winter in many mid‑latitude regions.

Why it’s so cold this winter

1. Polar vortex “wobble” and stretch
   • High above the Arctic, a ring of strong winds called the polar vortex normally keeps the coldest air bottled up near the pole.

 * This winter, that vortex has been stretched and disturbed, allowing lobes of frigid air to plunge south into North America and parts of Europe for extended periods, leading to the “big freeze” feel.

2. Jet stream dips: the Arctic air highway
   • The jet stream is a fast-moving river of air that guides storms and separates cold air to the north from milder air to the south.

 * When high‑pressure systems set up over certain regions, they force the jet stream to dip deeply south, funnelling Canadian and Siberian Arctic air into the central and eastern United States and beyond, which is exactly what has been happening this season.

3. La Niña’s fingerprint
   • This winter features a weak La Niña, a cooling of the central and eastern tropical Pacific that tends to reshape global wind and pressure patterns.

 * In past La Niña winters, we often see strong high pressure in the North Pacific and lower pressure over Canada, which helps drive repeated cold “spills” into the northern and eastern United States and parts of Europe—matching the colder‑than‑expected 2025–2026 outlooks.

“Cold winter” vs global warming

• Long‑term data show that the coldest temperatures of the year in many cities have actually warmed over the past few decades, meaning truly brutal cold snaps are rarer now than they used to be.

• A warming Arctic may paradoxically make certain regional winter extremes more likely by changing how often and how strongly the polar vortex and jet stream get disrupted, producing stuck patterns that keep one region very cold while others are unusually mild.

A simple way to picture it

Imagine the Arctic as a freezer with a rubber-sealed door (the polar vortex and jet stream).

• When the seal is tight, the cold air stays put and mid‑latitudes are chilly but not extreme.
• This winter, that “seal” has been warped and tugged by La Niña and a warming Arctic, so the freezer door keeps cracking open and dumping cold air into populated regions for longer stretches.

What to expect for the rest of the season

• Seasonal outlooks released ahead of winter suggested a better‑than‑usual chance of below‑normal temperatures and more frequent cold outbreaks across much of the United States and southern Canada, with some cold risk for northern and central Europe as well.

• Some scientists expect the current cold pattern to linger through much of February, because the unusual configuration of the stratosphere and jet stream tends to be “sticky” once it locks in place.

Bottom line: “Why is it so cold this winter?”
Because the large‑scale patterns this year—polar vortex disruption, jet stream dips, and La Niña—are all conspiring to send more Arctic air your way, even as the long‑term climate continues to warm.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.