# Polar Vortex Question
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-vortex-question/678578
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 12, 2014, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-vortex-question/678578 "2014-01-12T12:35:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2014, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-vortex-question/678578/1 "2014-01-12T12:35:19Z")
Well, really a general question about how the atmosphere works.
With the recent Evil Cold, we’ve all heard about how the polar vortex has sort of wobbled over and come south, resulting in the low temperatures. But my question is, if something like that happens, does it mean that warm air is drawn in from somewhere else to fill the space left by the departing vortex in its “normal” location? I would think that as it descends into the US (western hemisphere) it leaves a space, possibly drawing warm air in on the other side.
Just wondering how this all works.
Thanks
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### Author:  [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2014, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polar-vortex-question/678578/2 "2014-01-12T12:50:51Z")
There’s far more complication,so its not a guaranteed thing,
but YES it happened this time, as would probably happen with any “polar vortex” over USA, that Russia became unseasonably warm.
> **[Weather swap: Is America’s ‘polar vortex’ linked to record warm winter in...](https://www.rt.com/news/warm-russian-winter-polar-vortex-465/)**
>
> As Americans kept struggling with extreme cold and snow brought on by a ‘polar vortex,’ people in central Russia were puzzled by warm rainy weather that swept all the snow away. Now weather experts say the two anomalies are in fact connected.