US cold snap was a freak of nature, quick analysis finds

The frigid spell was particularly noteworthy for occurring when the planet is steadily warming because of the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Climate warming from the increase in these heat-trapping gases does not eliminate cold waves, but it tends to weaken them.

An international group of scientists has concluded the recent piercing chill was 15 times less likely than it would’ve been 100 years ago, when temperatures in such cold waves averaged about 4 degrees lower.

The cold was “highly unusual in the current climate,” wrote the scientists who analyzed the temperatures.