The recent extreme cold event in the US has raised questions about its relation with human-caused warming. In the public discussion I’ve noticed the broadly held misconception that global warming increases those events or makes them worse. I don’t think there is solid scientific evidence for this. To the contrary, I think the evidence indicates that, if anything, those events become less extreme and less frequent with global warming. So what causes this wide-spread misconception even from normally reliable and well-informed media outlets and public figures? Before addressing that question let me quickly document the discrepancy between media and science.