(WAVY) — The NCAA Tournament isn’t the only source of March madness — there’s always a little madness in our weather.
After all, this past weekend we nearly experienced all four seasons in one day, going from 60s and severe storms in the morning to snow showers and wind chills in the teens that evening.
Now, we are no strangers to weird weather around these parts, it’s why March typically “comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.” And we are no strangers to weird weather in the spring, as that’s when it typically swings.
It helps to think of spring, and autumn for that matter, less as seasons and more as transitions. Spring is just the transitional period between winter being cold and summer being hot. In this transition, the earth is changing its position around the sun. Thus, the northern hemisphere then faces the sun.
The days get longer, we get more sunlight, and things get warmer.
Now the jetstream, which is the driving factor of all weather, needs to compensate. So it slowly lifts to the north, however, it’s not a smooth process. For every two steps forward there’s one step back, in a way, it becomes more fluid.
A more fluid jetstream is more susceptible and accepting of changeable weather and weather swings. Hot and cold air can move into areas they don’t typically go, creating stronger and more dynamic storm systems.
Weather swings in the springs are not uncommon by any means – but what is uncommon in the frequency of them. As our climate continues to change, with more heat in the atmosphere, the jetstream remains more fluid, almost getting stuck in that transitional period.
And the weather swings, go beyond just spring.