Starting in late December as a result of the southward shift of the polar vortex, extremely cold conditions froze the eastern United States in the last few days of 2017 as well as into the new year.

Several winter weather events accompanied the cold wave, the most significant one was a powerful blizzard that impacted the Northeastern U.S. in the first few days of 2018.

[5] The pattern continued into the first week of 2018, with more record lows being set following a significant blizzard that impacted the Northeastern United States in early January.

[8][9] On December 31, 2017, the New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL) both played their coldest home games in franchise history, with the Patriots (in Foxborough, Massachusetts) recording a kickoff temperature of 13 °F (−11 °C) and a wind chill of −2 °F (−19 °C),[10] and the Titans (in Nashville, Tennessee) with a kickoff temperature of 23 °F (−5 °C).

The National Weather Service indicated that a temperature of −15 °F (−26 °C) took place in Omaha, Nebraska on December 31, 2017, lower than the previous record set in 1884.

[17] On January 5, Toronto broke a 59-year-old record with a morning low temperature of −23 °C (−9 °F) at the Pearson International Airport weather station.

[18] On January 6, Raleigh–Durham International Airport in North Carolina set a record for the longest time spent below 32 °F (0 °C), 159 hours according to WTVD.