Colorful jet stream visualization over Earth's Western Hemisphere.

What is the Jet Stream?

The jet stream is a narrow band of strong winds in the upper levels of Earth’s atmosphere, and it blows from west to east and provides a corridor for storms to follow as they circumnavigate the globe. Jet streams form along the boundaries of warm and cold air, and the wiggles of the jet stream play a large part in the weather you experience.

Fairbanks Alaska from the University of Alaska Fairbanks

The Top 10 Coldest US Cities

Not a big fan of the heat? Can’t wait for the first snowfall? If you like cold weather here in the US, all you have to do in most cases is move north. All but one of the coldest cities in the US are found in the Upper Midwest, where frequent Arctic blasts make winters more brutal than the rest of the country, with some of the coldest temperatures outside of Alaska!

sleet in a glove

What is Sleet?

In the average winter, most of us will have to deal with frozen precipitation, not just snow. One of these types is sleet, and we’ll explain how it forms and the difference between it and a hailstone.

polar vortex diagram

What is a Polar Vortex?

Winter 2020-21 didn’t turn out as many thought. Most long-range forecasters thought La Niña would lead to a mild and uneventful winter. My weather station read 62 on Christmas Day in Pennsylvania! Well, the polar vortex had other plans.