Growing number of Americans report experiencing extreme cold, AP-NORC poll finds

WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of people across North America began 2026 with bitterly cold temperatures, and many say it’s been years since they’ve experienced such a frigid winter.

“Pipes that had never frozen on me in 15 years froze,” Chris Ferro, 58, of Brooklyn, New York, said of the unusually cold temperatures he experienced in January and February. Ferro owns several residential properties in Albany and said several days of subzero temperatures prevented him from making repairs and renovations. He said he was grateful that none of the pipes burst and that this winter saw the same bitter cold he remembers from when he was young, in contrast to the relatively warmer winters he has experienced in recent years.

About 6 in 10 American adults say they have been personally affected by severe cold or severe winter storms in the past five years, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. This is an increase from an AP-NORC poll conducted in February 2025, in which about half of U.S. adults reported being affected by extreme cold.

The findings highlight the growing prevalence of cold weather experiences, or at least people’s perception of them, after a massive winter storm brought freezing temperatures to the East Coast and caused widespread power outages in the South.

In a warming world, people’s reactions to cold are subjective. Scientific research indicates that the first quarter of the 21st century has been unusually warm by historical standards – primarily due to human-induced climate change – and that abnormally cold winters are less common in North America. Because this type of extreme cold occurs less frequently, experts say Americans experience it more intensely now than in the past and prolonged cold spells are unfamiliar to many people, especially younger Americans.

During the summer of 2024, an AP-NORC poll found that about 7 in 10 American adults had experienced extremely hot weather or extreme heat waves in the previous five years.

Higher Electric Bills, School and Work Cancellations, and More

The most recent survey found that over the past year, Americans’ lives have been disrupted in multiple ways by the cold.

About 7 in 10 Americans say that in the past year their electricity or gas bills have been higher than usual because of winter storms or extreme cold. About 4 in 10 people have had work or school canceled due to winter storms or extreme cold, about a third have experienced a power outage, and about 3 in 10 have had their trip canceled or delayed.

Annie Braswell, 66, of Greenville, North Carolina, said that in January and February “it hadn’t been this cold in 40 years” and her utility bill was double the normal. She said it was a drastic change from the weather she experienced last summer, when she endured many days at or above 100°F (38°C). “I’m taking life one day at a time and realizing these are things I can’t change,” Braswell said of how she deals with extreme temperatures.

Heat waves and extreme cold require more heating and cooling to maintain comfortable temperatures inside homes and buildings, leading to higher utility bills. Electricity prices are rising in the United States, and an October 2025 AP-NORC poll finds that nearly 4 in 10 American adults say the cost of electricity is a “major source” of stress for them. Bill McKibben, a longtime climate activist, told The Associated Press in a separate interview that he believed rising electricity prices would have a major political impact.

The effects of the cold were felt across large areas of the country. About 6 in 10 Midwesterners, about half of Southerners and about 4 in 10 Northeasterners say they have faced work or school cancellation due to winter storms or extreme cold, compared to 15% of adults living in the West.

Connecting extreme cold and climate change

Of all the people who have experienced extreme weather events in recent years – including extreme heat, extreme cold, major droughts or water shortages, hurricanes or severe tropical storms, major floods, wildfires, tornadoes – about two-thirds believe climate change is the cause.

“I think climate change is a natural thing that happens … to some extent it’s accelerated by certain factors,” such as pollutants released by factories and the shipping industry, said Joseph Bird, 21, a student in Provo, Utah, who identifies as an independent. “I think it increases the frequency of extreme weather, that’s how I look at it,” Bird said.

Democrats and independents who have experienced severe weather are much more likely than Republicans to view climate change as a cause.

There is a particularly large gap between conservative Republicans (only 3 in 10 people who have experienced an extreme weather event think it is related to climate change) and liberal Democrats, the vast majority of whom think climate change is involved.

Although rising atmospheric temperatures are the result of global warming, scientists say that extreme cold outbreaks in North America are a feature of climate change. The Arctic polar vortex, a swirling area of ​​low pressure and cold air that is typically trapped above the North Pole throughout the year, can expand and infiltrate areas further south. Scientific research indicates that such polar vortex disruptions are occurring more frequently due to rapidly warming temperatures in the Arctic and shrinking Arctic sea ice.

Almost all Americans have experienced extreme weather recently.

Overall, the vast majority of U.S. adults, 80 percent, have experienced a severe weather event in the past five years, although they are much more likely to report experiencing extremely hot weather or extreme heat waves and extreme cold in the past five years than any other type of major weather event, including major droughts or water shortages, hurricanes or severe tropical storms, major floods, wildfires, tornadoes or other severe weather events or weather disasters.

There are no significant partisan differences in Americans’ experiences with extreme weather, but about 8 in 10 Democrats who experienced one of these extreme weather events said they were the result of climate change, compared to only about 4 in 10 Republicans.

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O’Malley reported from Philadelphia.

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The AP-NORC poll of 1,156 adults was conducted Feb. 5-8 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all adults is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

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