At the beginning of March 1993, cold stratospheric air was displaced toward midlatitudes. In situ measurements of stratospheric temperature and water vapor obtained at Aire-sur-Adour (44 ¿N, 0 ¿E) at that time suggest that air of polar origin was indeed sampled. Corresponding observations from the satellites of the TIROS N series have been analyzed using the Improved Initialization Inversion (3I) algorithm to determine temperature profiles up to ~10 hPa (~30 km) and to examine the evolution of the thermal fields in the stratosphere. Collocations between 3I-retrieved temperature profiles and radiosonde reports as well as comparisons with analyzed temperatures in the low stratosphere provided by the Stratospheric Research Group of the Free University of Berlin are presented and show the satisfactory accuracy of the retrievals in this part of the atmosphere. Three layers, according to their thermal behavior, could be distinguished as follows: below 100 hPa, from 100 to 30 hPa, and above. The investigation of this new case demonstrates the potential of TIROS N observations for climatic studies. ¿ 1998 American Geophysical Union