swimsuit cold
Because of several weird weather systems, it's warmer in Alaska than in Texas today.


The unusual weather kicked off last weekend with the formation of a "bomb cyclone" in the Bering Sea, which rammed into the polar jet stream and sent a cold air mass streaming from the Arctic south through the United States. The abnormal jet stream pattern, known as an "omega block," has caused an outbreak of premature winter weather across the lower 48, even as far south as the Gulf Coast, while giving the normally frigid Alaska a bit of a break.


This map, produced by the University of Maine's Climate Change Institute, shows average temperatures across North America today. Blue and purple temperatures are below freezing, and you can see that most of the country is getting an early taste of winter.



Meteorologist Eric Holthaus, who writes for Slate, has reported that these strange conditions could last through Thanksgiving. For many of us, that means stocking up on the hot cocoa and bundling up — it's going to be a cold November.