When Cathedral Catholic High School student Cambria Galloway ‘17 stepped off her plane in New Haven, Connecticut last winter break, she immediately realized she had underprepared.

“I was in jeans, and I couldn’t feel my legs within minutes,” Galloway said. “I really wasn’t expecting it to be THAT cold.”

Last December’s temperatures in Connecticut hovered around the 30 degree mark. While temperatures that low may sound punishing to native Southern Californians, seasoned East Coast veterans know better.

“Thirty degrees isn’t so cold if you dress properly,” CCHS student and native New Yorker Orry Marciano ‘17 said. “Wear warm clothes and you’re fine.”

The approaching temperature drop, however, is daunting even to Midwest and East Coast natives.

The polar vortex, as this weather phenomenon is known, brings dangerously low temperatures and biting winds to much of the Midwest and Northeast. It occurs when the area of low pressure and cold air constantly circulating over the North Pole surges south, causing Canada and the northern United States to suffer through arctic conditions.

The last time the United States saw the polar vortex was the winter of 2013-14, and the average daily temperature dropped lower than it had in 17 years.

AccuWeather reports that some areas could see similar record-low temperatures in the next two weeks, and the National Weather Service issued winter weather warnings to the Great Lakes area and parts of the Northeast on Monday.

In addition to the subzero temperatures and frigid winds, the areas affected by the polar vortex are also expecting heavy winter storms to bring several inches of snow and ice next week.

Naturally, Dons travelling east are slightly concerned.

“I really hope the polar vortex doesn’t hit Ohio that badly,” CCHS student Nicole Golba ‘17, who travels to Dayton, Ohio for Christmas every year, said. “It was already so cold last year; I don’t want to experience anything colder than that.”

Unfortunately for Golba and every other SoCal native braving eastern weather, the National Weather Service predicted the high temperatures of some areas, including parts of Ohio, to be 20 to 30 degrees lower than their average high temperatures.

“Oh, I know it’ll be bad,” CCHS student Montanna Kirven ‘17 said. “I have all my fingers crossed that it’ll be mild, but I know it’s going to awful back east.”