Texas Map Shows Counties Set to Freeze When Polar Vortex Hits
NewsweekJAN 2
At Least 9 Killed as Rare Winter Storm Strikes the US South
Above: City Park during a snowstorm on Jan. 21, 2025, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Image copyright: Michael DeMocker/Stringer/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
As our planet warms, the Arctic is heating up four times faster than average, weakening the temperature gradient that usually keeps polar air contained. This disruption allows frigid Arctic air to escape southward more frequently, bringing severe winter storms even to places like New Orleans and Houston in the US. There's growing evidence that climate change may set the stage for more extreme winter weather events, even as the planet's average temperatures rise.
Narrative B
While some rush to link a rare winter event like this to climate change, historical data shows such extreme events have occurred naturally before. Like in the 1850s and 1940s, when hurricane frequencies were higher than today, this storm likely represents simple natural climate variability rather than human-induced changes, as alarmists have attributed.