A growing number of Americans are experiencing extreme cold, with millions affected by severe weather events in the past five years, according to a recent AP-NORC poll. The poll found that about 6 in 10 U.S. adults have been personally affected by severe cold weather or severe winter storms, with many experiencing higher utility bills and disruptions to daily life.
The AP-NORC poll, conducted in February 2026, found that about 6 in 10 U.S. adults have been personally affected by severe cold weather or severe winter storms in the past five years. This is an increase from a similar poll conducted in February 2025, which found that about half of U.S. adults had been affected by extreme cold.
The poll also found that 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 have experienced a work or school cancellation because of winter storms or extreme cold, roughly one-third have experienced a power outage, and about 3 in 10 have had a travel cancellation or delay.
Higher Electric Bills and Disruptions to Daily Life
The effects of cold weather were felt across wide swathes of the country, with about 6 in 10 Midwesterners, about half of Southerners, and about 4 in 10 Northeasterners saying they’ve experienced work or school cancellation as a result of winter storms or extreme cold.
Annie Braswell, 66, from Greenville, North Carolina, said January and February felt like “it hadn’t been that cold in 40 years” and that her utility bill doubled compared with normal. She said it was a dramatic change from the weather she experienced last summer when she endured many days at or above 100°F (38°C).
Linking Extreme Cold and Climate Change
Among all of the people who experienced some kind of severe weather event in the past few years – including extreme heat, extreme cold, major droughts or water shortages, hurricanes or severe tropical storms, major flooding, wildfires, tornadoes – about two-thirds believe climate change was a cause.
Scientists say that extreme cold outbreaks across North America are a feature of climate change, with the Arctic polar vortex, a swirling area of low pressure and cold air that is typically trapped over the North Pole throughout the year, able to stretch down and infiltrate regions further south.
A recent study found that polar vortex disruptions are happening more frequently due to rapidly warming temperatures in the Arctic and shrinking Arctic sea ice.
Nearly All Americans Have Experienced Some Kind of Extreme Weather Recently
Overall, the vast majority of U.S. adults, 80%, have experienced some kind of severe weather event in the past five years, although they are much likelier to report experiencing extremely hot weather or extreme heat waves and extreme cold in the past five years than any other kind of major weather events.
There are no meaningful partisan differences in Americans’ experiences of extreme weather, but about 8 in 10 Democrats who experienced any of these extreme weather events said they were the result of climate change, compared with only about 4 in 10 Republicans.
The AP-NORC poll of 1,156 adults was conducted Feb. 5-8 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
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