The polar vortex is a band of strong winds, high up in the atmosphere that keeps bitterly cold air locked around the Arctic region.

Sometimes, like this year, it can drift further south than usual and envelop highly populated areas of North America.

Chigaco has been particularly hard hit, with its notoriously windy location on Lake Michigan bringing wind-chill temperatures down to record-breaking lows.

With much of the Midwest on lockdown and people urged to stay indoors, some people have been braving the plunging temperatures to take incredible images of the effects that the vortex is having on their daily lives.




A view of frozen Lake Michigan during the polar vortex is seen from an airplane in Chicago, Illinois






https://www.boredpanda.com/freezing-temperature-polar-vortex-usa-2019/
Lalasticlala, Mynd44

Frozen pants stand alone in Saint Anthony Village, Minnesota on Wednesday.


Lake Michigan froze over and the city of Chicago was blanketed in ice after days of recording-breaking low temperatures.


Boat docks in Chicago were completely covered by ice and snow on Thursday after temperatures plunged during the deep freeze.


Snow and ice covers Soldier Field in Chicago on Thursday as temperatures plummeted in the city from the polar vortex

Wheel of a vehicle.


-28c

WC tank exploded in Minnesota.

Lady opened Her Car Door In Chicago

Frozen noodles in Chicago.

A Firefighter After Working In The -40° Polar Vortex.

The homeless.


Mats and blankets are seen laid out at the Chattanooga Community Kitchen in Tennessee as authorities across the country are trying to help keep the homeless safe from the cold.

Frozen Niagra falls.


The polar vortex has turned Niagara Falls into a spectacular winter wonderland as it bears down on the Northeast.

It's So Cold that They Set Commuter Train Tracks On Fire To Warm Them.


Metra crews are seen clearing ice and snow off the rail tracks in Chicago on Tuesday evening in a bid to keep trains moving.

In Wisconsin.

Freezing Our Pants Off In Minnesota.


Throwing boiling water into -20°c air.

Frozen doors.

Landlord Decided To Turn Down The Heat Today In My MN Apartment As It Reached -40°

Going To Daycare When It's -30 Outside.


Reactions

Frozen Chicken Eggs.

Frozen toilet paper.

The Detroit River, Frozen All The Way To Canada.

Frozen Vodka

Exhaust.

Officer's uniform.

House Is Freezing From The Inside During The Coldest Day In A Decade.




In the kitchen.

Frozen Fire Hydrant.

Highway in South/North Dakota

A Bus stop.

Frozen river.

Ha! My lawd, and heat want to finish somebody here in Naija. Some of us even have to sleep butt _naked so we won't melt on our beds

Crashes.

Plummeting temperatures in Chicago have forecasters predicting that the city will be colder than parts of Alaska, the North Pole and Antarctica.

Pictured above is a frozen walkway at Lake Michigan in Chicago.

Street covered in snow.

Frozen boat.