"Jet stream gone wild": US forecasts blizzard, polar vortex, heat dome and atmospheric river all at once

[dalton99a]

https://apnews.com/article/heat-dome-snow-blizzard-cold-polar-flooding-55e3baf6877e81ee1961aade3cb361c3

US forecasts blizzard, polar vortex, heat dome and atmospheric river all at once
By SETH BORENSTEIN
Updated 9:32 AM CDT, March 13, 2026

Nearly every part of the United States is getting walloped by wild weather or just about to be.

Days of downpours have begun in Hawaii. The Southwest will soon bake with day after day of record 100-degree-plus (38 Celsius-plus) heat. Two storms will dump snow by the foot over northern Great Lakes states. And the dreaded polar vortex will again invade the Midwest and East with soul-crushing Arctic chill.

This forecast of extremes comes as weather whiplash has already hit much of the East. On Wednesday, Washington, D.C., residents walked around in shorts in record-breaking 86 degrees Fahrenheit (about 30 C). On Thursday, it snowed.

“All of the country, even if you’re not necessarily seeing extremes, are going to see generally changing from cold to warm, or warm to cold to warm,” said meteorologist Marc Chenard of the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center in Maryland.

...

[MineralMan]

1. Yes. We're Going to Be Smacked by It

here in the Twin Cities tomorrow night through Sunday. Big snowstorm will be here. I'm heading out to the supermarket right now to buy meals for the next three days. We'll be hunkering down.

[TommieMommy]

2. Our weather has gone bonkers.

[ananda]

3. We should call it Climate Chaos now.

And boy we're in for a wild ride.

I don't look forward to summer here
in Central Texas.

[chowder66]

6. Here in Los Angeles we are having your weather right now.

My brother lives near San Antonio so I know how hot it gets there. It's typically hotter there than here but it's like the script has flipped of late.

[ananda]

9. The Pacific Coast is usually cool.

Looks like it's hittin' there too.

I hope y'all have A/C.

I do have A/C and ceiling fans, but
I still dread it. It's like an oven
going outside. Even eggs on the
sidewalk would burn up.

[chowder66]

11. I don't have A/C in my bedroom so it's not fun.

I put up silver bubble wrap on my windows. I have a corner unit apt. which gets sun all day long. It helps... but just.
I'm more worried about next week with sustained high temps but I got through it last summer. It's just bizarre for this to happen so early. It's still winter!!

And boy do I wish I had the money to live near the coast. Much better temps there.

While I'm glad it's dry heat, I worry about fires.

[ananda]

18. It's been spring here for over a month.

In a few days, it turns into summer.

Have you thought about getting a
window unit?

[chowder66]

25. I live in an old building.

The windows are raised off the ground, crank outward and don't support A/C's. One tenant put one in sideways but the unit failed within months and he also got reamed by the landlord.

I've been thinking of saving up and asking them to install a wall unit but I have to pay for it and the labor. They will have to knock a whole in the wall, etc. They put these in all of the units that are short-term rentals (aka airbnb). There are only a few actual tenants in the building and they don't like doing anything except the most urgent things for us.

You may ask, why do I continue to live here....rent control and I like my apartment.

Never really had problems sleeping in my bedroom over the past 30 years. It's been the last 5 that have been difficult but it has been getting even worse in the last 3 years. Longer and hotter stretches of heat.

[ananda]

30. Get a portable. Here's a google search link.

Good luck!

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=portable+air+conditioner

[chowder66]

31. Won't work. I have one in my living room.

My living room has jalousie windows so it works in there. My bed only fits in under the windows and I would have to raise a portable A/C, get a single bed, get a window kit, blah blah blah. I do NOT want a single bed.

I appreciate the suggestion but I've looked into everything and the only option is to save money and see if my landlord will install the wall unit and it's hard to save in this economy.

[ananda]

34. Hmmm

I don't really understand all that.

I was just thinking of a small portable that you
could sit on a table or on the floor.

[chowder66]

36. Yeah, I know.

Unfortunately it won't fit. My bed is in the way and there isn't a good place to move it to unless I get rid of a dresser that I need or downsize my bed which I won't do. I think it would be better to save that money up to put towards the wall unit and labor.

[DBoon]

4. This is why National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder is being dismantled

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/trump-administration-dissolve-key-climate-research-agency-2025-12-17/

If you don't have climate research, you don't know about the bad news.

[SergeStorms]

13. Solid reasoning there.

What you don't know can't hurt you, correct?

[c-rational]

16. K&R. Thanks for your post and the link to the article.

[yellow dahlia]

37. This needs to be amplified.

[Ruby the Liberal]

39. "Stop the testing"

It still boggles my mind that this was the original plan to communicate COVID information to the public. The boy-king thought he could divert focus from an incoming hurricane with a Sharpie. Science websites have been scrubbed to remove environmental and health information that doesn't fit the narrative.

Of course they are doing this.

[chowder66]

5. Here in the Hollywood Hills we are in the 90's with more on the way.

Hit 93 in my neighborhood yesterday and it's supposed to be around the same today. Then relief tomorrow and Sunday in the low 80's.
Next week it's low to mid 90's through Friday.

It's certainly bonkers.

[LisaM]

7. It's snowing in Seattle right now.

That's very unusual for mid-March.

[Trailrider1951]

29. Yep, it's been rain/snow/dogs/cats

all morning. Had to make a grocery run to Safeway this morning. I was out of yogurt and coffee

[0rganism]

8. The weather now looks like AI hallucinations, well done fellow humans!

I think we get an "achievement" for global suicide by climate.

[CrispyQ]

10. We just want moisture. Snow or rain, no one cares, just bring us some water.

We had a bit of snow last week but everything is crisp again. There's another fire out on the plains of Nebraska. They spread so fast when things are this dry.

[moonshinegnomie]

12. Supposed to be 91 Sunday and 40 Monday morning here

[Grumpy Old Guy]

14. We're in Hawaii right now.

There was a deluge of rain and wind yesterday on Maui, and thunderstorms expected this afternoon. We're wondering if we'll be able to leave as scheduled tomorrow.

[tazcat]

15. We got 11" heavy snow last nite and is still snowing in NE WI.

Supposed to get 22-24" Sunday and the cold is getting tiresome. The oiligarches need to pay reparations for their evil greed.

[FailureToCommunicate]

23. My two stage snowblower finally arrived. Send some of that snow to Massachusetts so

I can try it out some more.

Although, I am getting a bit tired of winter after our two recent heavy (for us) blizzards.

Trump probably never leaves his bubble long enough to have any idea about climate change. "Hey, the astro-turf on my golf courses is always green!"

I'd like him to spend some time discovering the weather in Brussels...

[LiberalArkie]

17. Here in Central Arkansas.. Next week Low Monday 29, High Saturday 80..

[MadScout]

19. My last week...

Left michigans UP with 6 foot snow banks to head to St. Louis where there was no snow and the temps went from the 40s to the 80s and back down to the 40s over 5 days.

Heading back to Michigan where in the Detroit area we have 55mph winds.

I have to finish the trip tomorrow to beat the now THREE FEET of snow that is expected to start falling tomorrow evening.

[ultralite001]

20. Methinks March may be going out like...

a lion...

[mwmisses4289]

22. Cold nights, warm days.

Nights getting down into the low 40s, maybe upper 30s, highs in the 60s. Right now doesn't look like any precip or wind, but that could change any minute.

[aggiesal]

24. I'm in San Diego, about 7 miles from the Mexican border. It's 11:20 am and it's already 87˚ with cloudless skies. ...

Last edited Fri Mar 13, 2026, 04:05 PM - Edit history (1)

and it March 13th!

Update: 91.7 @ 1:00pm PDT.
Some scattered clouds are appearing.

[RockRaven]

26. A destabilized jet stream is a direct consequence of global warming/climate change.

Long predicted/modeled, now reality.

[BootinUp]

27. Sounds terrific, nt

[C_U_L8R]

28. Around here, it's called March.

Climate crisis aside, this month is always schizophrenic, weather-wise.

[NEOH]

32. Tornado Watches, 70F Temps, Snow & High Winds

Gusts to 85mph today. Power outages everywhere, including mine. May not back on till Sunday!

[Ms. Toad]

33. Power out here.

They tell us that tomorrow night they will give us an estimate as to when it will come back on.

Big winds blew a tree down.

[DFW]

35. Not (yet) quite that insane here in Europe, but...

I’ve been on the Mediterranean coast of Spain since Tuesday, and according to our friends back in the German Rheinland, a two hour flight to the north, it’s warmer there than it is here (somewhat chilly for this tome of year).

[ShepKat]

38. never trust march for consistency

I've noticed March is never to be trusted for logical weather- I've lived 67 of them.
The 'Storm of The Century' happened on march 12,13 and 14 in the late 90s,
and I've planted potatoes in march as well.
Mother Earth is the Boss. Always has been and always will be.