Time to pull those heavy coats, scarves and gloves back out of the closet. Mashable reports a re-emergence of some of the conditions that created the frigid temperatures gripping much of the country in early 2013. This news will likely come as an unpleasant surprise to much of the easternmost part of the country, which has been enjoying warmer-than-usual temperatures over the past few weeks.

Residents of the Northeastern and Midwestern regions of the US will experience temperatures in the teens and single digits next week, and those in the Great Lakes areas may be impacted by strong wind surges and the potential of a lake-snow effect.

Although it is tempting to refer to this weather event as a return of the polar vortex – and many media outlets will likely report it as such – Dennis Mersereau of The Vane cautions that it is not an accurate description.

The polar vortex is described as a persistent mass of continuously circulating air just above the Arctic, which keeps the frigid air of that region contained. In 2013, the air mass shifted significantly, allowing a number of trenches of cold air to escape, one of which settled and rotated over the Great Lakes and Ontario for several weeks last winter.

In this incarnation, only a slight shift is predicted – the main mass of air should stay in place over Greenland – but one trench of air is expected to pass over the Great Lakes and northeastern US for part of next week. The good news is that it is expected to be a short-lived weather event, and is not predicted to bring any snowstorms along with it.

Weather models from KNYC in New York City and KBOS in Boston predict the coldest day of next week to fall on Wednesday, with a potential low of 11 degrees Fahrenheit in NYC and 6 degrees Fahrenheit in Boston. Thursday’s predicted lows are only slightly higher, with 16 degrees predicted in NYC and 11 degrees predicted in Boston.