2014 Polar Vortex: Baby, It Was Cold

The winter of 2014-15 stepped off on a blustery foot in most of the country, but it's nothing compared to the polar vortex that descended on the United States the first week in January 2014.

The polar vortex is a complicated meteorological phenomenon that occurs around the North Pole and South Pole each winter, but it can shift around a little, or even break into pieces and that's what happened. So how cold was it in 2014?

• On January 6th, the average daily temperature in the United States was 17.9 degrees.
• Chicago hit a record low of minus-16 degrees. It was so cold that the Lincoln Park Zoo had to bring its polar bears inside.
• New York measured in at minus-four on January 7th which was colder than in Juneau, Alaska.
• Atlanta bottomed out at six degrees on January 7th.
• Between January 5th and 6th, temperatures in Nashville dropped 50 degrees to a high temperature of nine degrees.
• Even Tampa, Florida couldn't escape with the low on January 7th at 35.