The same storm blanketing Oklahoma communities in white also caused hundreds of flight cancellations in Dallas and dozens in OKC.

Brutal cold will open the door for a winter storm to take a somewhat unusual track through the South and create treacherous conditions.

The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole, but it sometimes ventures south into the U.S., Europe and Asia. Some experts say such cold air outbreaks are happening more frequently, paradoxically, because of a warming world.