This allowed a piece of the polar vortex to advance southward into the Central and Eastern United States, bringing record-cold temperatures to much of the region.

[9] Although the Omega Block broke down on November 20, due to a powerful storm moving into the Gulf of Alaska, frigid conditions continued to persist across much of the United States.

Despite the development of a second cold wave, it ended on December 6, when a ridge of high pressure brought above-average temperatures to the region, especially in the Central United States.

On November 8, the northward movement of a bomb cyclone associated with Typhoon Nuri's remnants shifted the jet stream far to the north, creating an omega block pattern, which allowed a fragment of the polar vortex to descend from Arctic region into lower Canada and the Eastern United States, affecting up to 200 million people with colder-than-normal temperatures and early snowstorms.

Although the Omega block broke down on November 20, a powerful storm brought more frigid temperatures.

[17] The cold wave brought an end to the navigation season on the upper Mississippi River, the earliest closing since records began in 1969.

[19] A severe and persistent lake-effect snow event hit the Great Lakes snowbelt regions, triggered by a winter storm that emerged from Canada, to the north of the Midwest.

[25] Snow depths of greater than 24 inches were reported in numerous location across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

[1] However, this same warming trend brought concerns that the resulting snowmelt and incoming rain may cause floods in the region.

[30] Only minor damage was reported on the island which houses a United States Air Force installation.

[4] By November 19, another seven people had died in western New York from the cold temperatures brought by that same winter storm.