I’m 46 and to me this more normal than anything else. I’m in upstate NY, and except for the last few years, remember it always getting really cold around this time of year. I remember being out on 12/31/99 into 01/01/2000 and it was about as cold as this.
Weather unground confirms. About 19 at 11 and 25 at midnight. Kind of like now it’s 19 at the house.
Obligatory XKCD: Cold
I also remember a few years after that it was so cold the rivers froze early in December. Then there was a January thaw and everything flooded due to ice jams. That was in the 2000’s. I’m not trying to get into a debate about man-made climate change, I’m just saying it’s not so unbelievably cold right now like the OP is making out to be.
That comic is part of the problem.
that’s what happens when everyone bitches about “its too warm for winter” mother nature responds in kind…
My question however was why did the temperatures drop 20-30 degrees, and stay that way for 2 weeks, then go back up next week? If in summer the temps went up 20-30 degrees, stayed that way for 2 weeks, then went down again I’d assume something was up. My question wasn’t even about it being unbelievably cold, it is why did the temps suddenly drop 20-30 degrees, and stay that way for 2 weeks, then go back up.
In my OP I assumed it was an arctic vortex, all the cold air from up north came down here. That is what other people are saying is happening. I don’t know if arctic vortex, arctic blast, polar vortex, etc all refer to the same thing though.
Oh, I didn’t realize that was what you were asking. Ignore my responses please.
It is variations in the polar vortex. There’s no equivalent weather pattern that would blast hot air in large regions of the country.
It’s pretty much the same thing. The polar vortex is always there, and it’s normal for it to swerve south and cause cold snaps. The only unusual thing is the increasing frequency and intensity. Some scientists are saying it’s because climate change is weakening the polar vortex, making the behavior more erratic.
Nobody gets my jokes. 
Some of us do, but we’re not allowed to throw peanut shells in GQ.
Here is a recent blog post by Daniel Swain( California Weather Blog )that discusses some recent research on extreme weather in North America and in particular drought conditions in CA and the “North American Winter Dipole” that seemingly is part and parcel of that.
Most helpful — thanks.
I blame people who have some strange need for “4 seasons” and a psychotic yearning for “snow” 
Like Daniel Tosh said “I like seasons too. That is why I skip the shitty ones.” People who like snow and winter can go straight to hell or maybe I should because it would be warmer. There is nothing good about it. Every single winter, I wonder how I ended up in New England. My ancestors were a tropical species and yet I somehow got lost and ended up in an uninhabitable region.
Polar air is not only colder, but also drier … the subtropical air that sweeps up is warmer and much wetter … moist air behaves a little differently than dry air …
Just looking at cloud cover we see hardly any right now over the eastern USA, so at night the heat radiates out in to space bringing big drops in temperature … however, as the moist air from the Gulf of Mexico moves up during summer we’ll see extensive decks of clouds and thunderstorms, preventing the sun from warming the Earth during the day and temperatures won’t rise as much …
As a counterpoint, we sometimes see in California warm dry air moving in from the southeast, and we get these big temperature gains … no clouds, hot enough to fry eggs on the sidewalk … the hottest recorded temperature in Atlanta is 106ºF; for Redding, CA it’s 118ºF …
Because Global Warming is a liberal lie invented by Gina. What else could it be? Obviously it can’t be cold right now if the world is getting warmer. We need to burn more coal, get those miners back to work. /s
Moderator Note
Let’s keep the politics out of GQ, please.
If anyone wishes to discuss the politics surrounding the issue of climate change, please do so in a more appropriate forum.
(Skips lecture on the axial tilt of the Earth and how it is “winter” now)
Eh, like in the south during summer, we hearty Minnesotans merely remain inside during extraordinary cold.
If you ever visit the West Coast in summer, bring a jacket …