Students across campus prepared for a frigid week, as temperatures reached lows of 40. However, this unusual case of cold weather in the Sunshine State had no comparison to what occurred in the Midwest, where a polar vortex caused wind chills of minus 60 degrees.

This freezing climate in the Midwest is caused by a split in the polar vortex, a mass of cold air that dipped southward into the U.S, away from its normal location tucked away in the Arctic region.

Junior Josh Freeman, who has family in Michigan,  has been keen on tracking the intense weather.

“It’s crazy up there,” he said. “My brother has been stuck, and basically trapped in his room. I going to be there in a couple of weeks and if I have to deal with that weather, I’m going to die.”

Other students have expressed gratitude for being nowhere near the radius of the polar vortex.

“I usually enjoy cold weather, but that’s too much,” sophomore Kishan Ramchandani said. “I’m extremely glad we’re not experiencing anything like what’s going on in the Midwest. I can’t imagine what it’s like.”

Scientists have been quick to try to explain the reason for such an occurrence with many identifying one major influence: climate change. Theories have spawned revolving around heat disrupting the polar vortex.

“I see where they’re coming from,” sophomore Chris Hinshaw said. “But I also think that the weather and climate are much more complex than we deem it to be. There are definitely more factors.”

By Julien Wakim