A rare weather event next week expected to spur a wave of unusually cold conditions throughout the country could make for a possibly frigid Thanksgiving for the region, forecasters said.

The cold temperatures — which might not reach Long Island — would be caused by a disruption in the polar vortex above the North Pole, which is a pocket of spinning air that typically keeps cold winds from flowing south, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

NOAA is predicting that "waves" of air will hit the polar vortex and weaken it, allowing the cold air to leak southward and bring "more winterlike conditions across the Northwestern, Central, and Eastern U.S., including much below normal temperatures and the potential for heavy snow."

But the vortex wouldn't be felt unti

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