This is what the polar vortex looks like.

NASA posted this chilling video on its Facebook page to illustrate how the huge blast of frigid air – the purple and dark blue mass – dipped down from northern Canada/Arctic Circle domain and reached well into the United States as 2013 ended.

“The Big Chill,” NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center post read. “Blistering cold air from the Arctic plunged southward this winter, breaking US temperature records.”

“A persistent pattern of winds spins high above the Arctic in winter. The winds, known as the polar vortex, typically blow in a fairly tight circular formation. But in late December 2013 and early January 2014, the winds loosened and frigid Arctic air spilled farther south than usual, deep into the continental United States.”

“In some places temperatures were 40 degrees Fahrenheit colder than average,” it added.