--- title: Polar Vortexes: Researcher Says They Won't Be Common in the Future description: A new study published in the journal "Nature Climate Change" suggests the warming of the Arctic will actually lead to fewer deep freezes canonical: https://time.com/2880137/polar-vortex-climate-change-extreme-cold/ author: Melissa Hellmann article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-16T07:36:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:25:40.298Z article:section: Science og:title: Polar Vortexes: Researcher Says They Won't Be Common in the Future og:description: A new study published in the journal "Nature Climate Change" suggests the warming of the Arctic will actually lead to fewer deep freezes og:url: https://time.com/2880137/polar-vortex-climate-change-extreme-cold/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f803b3dedba8bb4/698685a1169ab0e71e278435/bae9d456a08a4143bcfc240159532907-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Winter Weather og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Polar Vortexes: Researcher Says They Won't Be Common in the Future twitter:description: A new study published in the journal "Nature Climate Change" suggests the warming of the Arctic will actually lead to fewer deep freezes twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f803b3dedba8bb4/698685a1169ab0e71e278435/bae9d456a08a4143bcfc240159532907-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Relax, Polar Vortexes Aren't Going to Become the New Normal by [Melissa Hellmann](https://time.com/author/melissa-hellmann/) ## Melissa Hellmann Jun 16, 2014 7:36 AM UTC  Pedestrians during a snow storm in Detroit, March 12, 2014\. Another winter storm is expected from Missouri to Delaware on Sunday. Pedestrians during a snow storm in Detroit, March 12, 2014\. Another winter storm is expected from Missouri to Delaware on Sunday.Paul Sancya—AP by [Melissa Hellmann](https://time.com/author/melissa-hellmann/) ## Melissa Hellmann Jun 16, 2014 7:36 AM UTC The polar vortex that [plagued](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140615143834.htm) much of North America during the winter of 2014—in which Arctic air dipped unusually southward—caused icily low temperatures, school closures and transportation delays, and had many believing climate change was only going to lead to more cold-weather extremes in the future. But not so fast. A new study published in the journal _Nature Climate Change_ suggests that the warming of the Arctic will actually lead to _fewer_ deep freezes over the next century. The lead author, James Screen, is a climate researcher at the University of Exeter and contends that the warming Arctic will, in fact, lead to consistently warmer weather. “Autumn and winter days are becoming warmer on average, and less variable from day to day. Both factors reduce the chance of extremely cold days,” Screen says. Although Screen doesn’t deny that last winter was indeed extremely cold, he stresses that weather is variable and that the frigid weather can’t be [blamed](http://mashable.com/2014/06/15/warming-arctic-means-fewer-extreme-cold-events-in-u-s-europe-and-asia-study/) on some fundamental shift in the polar jet stream. “I don’t think we necessarily need explanations for the past winter other than that’s just weather,” Screen told Mashable. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2880137/polar-vortex-climate-change-extreme-cold/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2880137/polar-vortex-climate-change-extreme-cold/"},"headline":"Relax, Polar Vortexes Aren't Going to Become the New Normal","datePublished":"2014-06-16T07:36:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:25:40.298Z","description":"A new study suggests that the warming of the Arctic will actually lead to consistently warmer autumn and winter days in the U.S. and Europe","url":"https://time.com/2880137/polar-vortex-climate-change-extreme-cold/","keywords":["weather","polar vortex","europe","Science topic","United States"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f803b3dedba8bb4/698685a1169ab0e71e278435/bae9d456a08a4143bcfc240159532907-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Hellmann","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-hellmann/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f803b3dedba8bb4/698685a1169ab0e71e278435/bae9d456a08a4143bcfc240159532907-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Winter Weather","caption":"Winter Weather","creditText":"Paul Sancya—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/weather/","name":"weather"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2880137/polar-vortex-climate-change-extreme-cold/","name":"Relax, Polar Vortexes Aren't Going to Become the New Normal"}}]}] ```