What the polar vortex looks like from space: NASA satellite captures infrared view of frigid air mass as it bears down on the US 

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A stunning animation from space reveals winter is coming for certain parts of the United States.

The NASA data shows a frigid air mass is sweeping over the US and is likely to affect states located in the north central to the northeastern and Mid-Atlantic areas.

Known as a ‘polar vortex’, this weather system is expected to deliver bitter wind chills and temperatures 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit below the average on both Thursday and Friday.  

These predictions stem from imagery collected by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument attached to NASA’s Aqua satellite that measures temperature data in infrared light.

At NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, a series of AIRS images and an animation were created to depict the temperature of air at heights of 500 millibars.

From December 1 to 11, AIRS has been monitoring the movement of cold air traveling across the US and Canada.

On December 7, cold arctic air descended from Canada into the Plain states - reaching Colorado, Kansas and Missouri.

Then it shifted east two days later, making its way through the Ohio Valley and New England.

Another trough of cold air came blowing down from Canada into the northern plains on December 11.

This system is set to head for the north central and northeastern parts of the US on December 14 and 15, and coming with it are very chilly temperatures.

On AIRS 500 millibar imagery, generally, warmer than average temperatures can be found under ridges where the curve lifts northward.

Colder temperatures can be found under troughs, or where the front dips toward the southward.

A polar vortex is expected to deliver temperatures 20 to 30 degrees below the average this week. These predictions stem from imagery collected by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder instrument attached to NASA’s Aqua satellite that measures temperature data in infrared light

These maps give a large-scale picture of the weather pattern over the continental United States and North America.

The 500 millibar maps are useful in examining winter weather patterns between about 30 degrees and 60 degrees latitude. 

And data pulled from the instrument shows that the coldest air will make its way across the Upper Midwest region on Wednesday night into Thursday, reports The Washington Post.

Minnesota, Wisconsin, parts of the Dakotas and Chicago are all set to feel wind chills colder than -20 degrees by Thursday morning.

Record breaking low temperatures are expected in northern Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia also on Thursday.

Maine, the Boston metro area, New York City and the D.C. metro area could also experience record low temperatures the following day.

However, New England and parts of the US East Coast are expected to feel the brunt of the polar vortex and could feel wind chills as low as -10 to -25 on Thursday and Friday.

The National Weather Service in Boston has already issued a warning of ‘dangerously cold weather’ for the end of the week.

The term ‘polar vortex’ first became popular in 2014, when the system made its way across the the US - it affected 200 million people and caused billions of dollars in damages. 

From December 1 to 11, AIRS has been monitoring the movement of cold air traveling across the US and Canada. Another trough of cold air came blowing down from Canada into the northern plains on December 11 (pictured)

However, climatologists told DailyMail.com that, thankfully, it won’t be as severe this time around.

The winter of 2014 was a really extreme case, as the cold was so persistent and it was focused on one area, which makes it very hard to reproduce,' Judah Cohen, a climatologist at Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER), a Verisk Analytics Business, told DailyMail.com.

The north central to the northeastern and Mid-Atlantic are set to experience record low temperatures this week. New England and parts of the US East Coast could experience wind chills as low as -10 to -25 on Thursday and Friday

'Normally when a vortex stretches it eventually bursts, but in 2014 it just kept stretching and bouncing back.'

'That event was highly unique and very hard to duplicate, I’m not saying it is impossible, but there are no signs that we are going to get a repeat.'

Experts say the polar vortex is already on the move this year – which could be very troubling later on.

'There has been an unusual weakening, but it is unprecedentedly early and if we look at it chronologically it should hit in January,' said Cohen.

A recent study claimed Arctic sea-ice loss is causing the Polar Vortex to shift and as a result, winters are expected to get longer and more bitter

'Researchers are attributing the weakening in the study it to see-ice, which is contributing to the shift.'

A group of international researchers recently collaborated in a study that says it ‘reveals the vortex shift induces cooling over some parts of the Eurasian continent and North America which partly offsets the tropospheric climate warming there in the past three decades,’ the team shared in the study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. 

‘The potential vortex shift in response to persistent sea-ice loss in the future and its associated climatic impact, deserve attention to better constrain future climate changes.’

Experts say the Arctic sea-ice loss is causing the polar vortex to shift and will cause longer winters. Pictured is the differences in 6-month (Sept–Feb) mean SIC over the northern polar cap from the 2000s and the 1980s

The Polar Vortex hit the US hardest in 2014 , affecting 200 million people and causing billions of dollars in damages, but climatologists told DailyMail.com that, thankfully, it won't be as severe this time around

The winter of 2014 was a really extreme case, as the cold was so persistent and it was focused on one area, which makes it very hard to reproduce. Normally when a vortex stretches it eventually bursts, but in 2014 it just kept stretching and bouncing back

For more than 30 years, the polar vortex has been weakening because of this sea-ice loss in the Arctic, which is linked to human induced climate change, reports Think Progress.

And when this happens, a piece of the vortex can surge to the southern part of the globe, which it then pushes Arctic cold into areas of North America and Europe, reports The Weather Channel.

'The coldest areas this winter are expect to be in the Great Lakes near the northern plains,' Samuhel told DailyMail.com.

'But it looks like the south should have a pretty warm winter, especially the south central states.'

Samuhel also predicts that there will be a major difference between the northern and southern areas of the US, which will result in sever storms across the board.

Two years ago, this bitter shift caused the US economy some $5 billion in fights and infrastructure repairs.

A polar vortex also means higher energy bills that not only break the bank, but also dips into to our fossil fuel supply around a time experts reveal we have ‘aggressively’ cut down in order to control climate change.

However, Cohen doesn't believe we will experience another harsh winter like the one two years ago.

'There can be two events where the polar vortex experienced weakening, which is what happened in 2009-2010, he said.

‘We had a very early weakening, then there was another in February and that is a plausible outcome for this winter.’

‘If there was one winter to repeat would be 2009/2010 not 2013/2014.’  

Climatologists say this winter will not be as bad as 2014 (pictured is a frozen Niagara falls during the 2014 polar vortex) and if the polar vortex does strike it will be in January

This study comes shortly after the U.N. weather agency sent out a warning of 'fundamental change' afoot in the global climate and continued warming, accompanied recently by unusually high rainfall in parts of the US and Europe.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) cited data released by Nasa showing that this May was the hottest on record, and the Northern Hemisphere spring has been the hottest spring ever.

WMO global climate director Dr. David Carlson said the new data showed 370 straight months of warm or warmer-than-average temperatures worldwide.

The state of the climate so far this year gives us much cause for alarm,' said Carlson.

The first four months of 2016 were the warmest globally in 136 years.

'Exceptionally high temperatures. Ice melt rates in March and May that we don't normally see until July. Once-in-a-generation rainfall events. The super El Niño is only partly to blame. Abnormal is the new normal.'