Anytime we get an Arctic air blast down this far south, this is an artifact of the polar vortex rearing its ugly head,” said climatologist Barry Keim .

A once-in-a-generation snowstorm, tied to the polar vortex event across the Lower 48 states, was plastering the Gulf Coast with record-setting snow and ice on Tuesday.Why it matters: This region isn't equipped to cope with heavy snow,

The cold temperatures are coming from a not uncommon expansion in the Polar Vortex, which are counter-clockwise rotating air currents that typically hang over the Arctic.

Warmer-than-normal temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico did not cause the record-setting snowfall, but the conditions may have been an ingredient to the unusual weather.

Here's the latest on the winter storm. A historic winter storm is poised to produce potentially record-breaking snows from coastal Texas to northern Florida late Monday into Tuesday. The event comes as an Arctic blast affects more than half the U.

A polar vortex dipping down from Siberia is bringing a cold front with frigid temperatures to millions Americans. See maps of the arctic blast.

Abnormal weather events and severe winter storms could be caused by a disrupted polar vortex. Find out here how the polar vortex affects the weather.

The first-ever blizzard warnings were issued near the Texas-Louisiana border Tuesday as Winter Storm Enzo blew through, bringing an estimated five inches of snow to areas in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

People living "basically anywhere from the Rockies eastward" will see extremely cold temperatures over the next several days, a meteorologist says.

NEW ORLEANS -- The vast majority of Americans are about to get an extended taste of frigid Siberian weather. Another polar vortex disruption will stretch Arctic air across the top of the globe and make Donald Trump's second inauguration the coldest in 40 years, meteorologists said.

A rare winter storm has turned the South into an unlikely winter wonderland this week, giving cities like New Orleans more snow in a day than Salt Lake City has received all season.

A winter storm that is expected to begin in Texas next week could end up bringing snow and ice to parts of Florida, but the forecast is far from a lock.