What The Arctic Outbreak And Last Year’s ‘Polar Vortex’ Have In Common

The Arctic Outbreak, an unseasonable bout of frigid air that’s sweeping across the U.S. this week, is not the same as last winter’s so-called "Polar Vortex" event…A growing body of research led by Jennifer Francis, a research professor at Rutgers University’s Institute of Marine and Coastal Science, suggests Arctic warming causes less drastic changes in temperatures between northern and southern climates, leading to weakened west-to-east winds, and ultimately, a wavier jet stream like the one that caused last year’s Polar Vortex event.