230M Americans are feeling the polar vortex as Arctic deep freeze engulfs US

The arctic outbreak that has enveloped the central U.S. is hitting its peak Thursday as frigid temperatures continue to spread south and east across the nation.

Extreme Cold Warnings and Cold Weather Advisories are posted for a vast swath of the country, stretching from Montana to Texas and eastward beyond the Mississippi River to northern Florida and parts of the Southeast.

The sheer scale of the cold is staggering, with 230 million Americans experiencing temperatures below freezing.

“The majority of our country has temperatures that are significantly below average for this time of year,” FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin said. “The wind, combined with the cold, just sucks up all your energy. You don’t even want to get out of bed in this type of weather.”

Wind chill values in Glasgow, Montana, plunged to -51 degrees Thursday morning as similar life-threatening cold blanketed neighboring states.

Major cities such as Kansas City, Missouri; Omaha, Nebraska; Des Moines, Iowa; and Minneapolis, Minnesota, all experienced wind chills below -20 degrees.

Records are expected to shatter as temperatures drop into the teens across the southern Plains and below zero from the central Plains to the northern border and Upper Midwest. 

Cities such as Kansas City, Missouri; Wichita, Kansas; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Dallas, Texas, are experiencing their coldest temperatures since the historic 2021 arctic outbreak.

This level of cold this far south is increasing the risk of frozen and burst pipes and water mains.

While polar vortex outbreaks are not uncommon, especially in the northern and central Plains, this late-February arrival is particularly intense, pushing conditions to dangerous extremes, the FOX Forecast Center said.

The widespread exposure poses significant risks, even for brief periods outdoors.

The dangerously cold air reached the Gulf Coast and South Texas, where wake-up temperatures on Thursday were in the 20s.

The FOX Forecast Center said the same is expected for Friday morning, noting that nearly every climate site along the Gulf Coast will challenge its daily record-low temperature. 

Friday will see the deep freeze continue to expand through the Southeast.

Cities such as Memphis, Tennessee; Birmingham, Alabama; Macon, Georgia; and Charleston, South Carolina, among others, may all set new daily low temperature records for Feb. 21.

Temperatures will begin to moderate on Saturday before a major warmup commences on Sunday.