Polar Vortex in July? Cooler Temperatures on the Way

Remember the polar vortex, the meteorological phenomenon that was all the rage last winter?

Some forecasters say the condition that brought us frigid blasts of arctic air throughout January and February may repeat itself next week.

Because of a cool air blast from the Gulf of Alaska, temperatures along the East Coast will dip 10 to 15 degrees below normal starting Tuesday and continuing throughout next week. We're on the outer edge of a more severe weather pattern expected to drop temperatures 20-30 degrees below normal in the Midwest. 

The Weather Channel, however, is warning people to chill out with the polar vortex references. They say the reason for the cool air is not necessarily a polar vortex, a catchy phrase that is making a summer return. 

Rather, it’s more complicated, forecasters explain.

Next week’s blast of cool air is “related to the circumpolar vortex in the troposphere, the lower layer of the atmosphere, which is a pattern of winds that feature a broad, irregular generally west-to-east flow around the pole, rather than a flow that's consistently centered right at the pole like the stratospheric polar vortex," according to the Weather Channel.