Many of us cold people now know about the polar vortex. Rush Limbaugh, however, doubts its existence, suggesting it’s part of a hoax perpetrated by the all-powerful liberal media. (That’s entertainment, folks!) Weatherman Al Roker responds with a passage from a 1959 textbook published by the American Meteorological Society:

polar vortex – the large-scale cyclonic circulation in the middle and upper troposphere centered generally in the polar regions.

Meanwhile, the White House science and technology advisor takes two minutes to explain the possible relationship between global climate change and the arrival of the polar vortex in places like St. Louis. It turns out that we hadn’t heard of the polar vortex before because it hasn’t visited us very often. Visits are now more likely.