Spring weather is known for its unpredictability. Some days are warm and sunny and make you look forward to summer. Other days are full of chilly rain and even snow. Spring is a transitional period, and understanding the factors that contribute to spring weather’s wackiness can help us prepare for its unpredictable nature.
Why is spring weather so wild?
One of the main factors that contribute to the unpredictability of spring weather is the balance of cold and warm air. The atmosphere is trying to balance the cold air left over from winter with the warm air that starts to move in from the southern hemisphere (which just had its summer). This creates unstable weather patterns that fluctuate wildly from day to day.
Another significant contributor to spring weather’s unpredictability is the jet stream. The jet stream is a high-altitude wind current that flows from west to east, and it’s the most active during the spring season. Its presence can cause disturbances in the atmosphere and lead to changes in air pressure, temperature, and precipitation.
The jet stream can create a wave-like pattern in the atmosphere. This can cause pockets of cold and warm air to mix together, leading to dramatic temperature changes. It also creates a barrier between these warm and cold air masses. This leads to severe weather like thunderstorms, tornadoes, and even blizzards.
The jet stream can also affect the timing and severity of tornadoes and hurricanes.
Here comes the sun
The changing angle of the sun is another factor that impacts spring weather. As the sun gets higher in the sky and the days get longer, the amount of energy the Earth receives increases. This can lead to unstable air masses and subsequent thunderstorms.
If you live near a large lake or an ocean, you’ll probably notice that the weather is even more unpredictable. That’s partly because water takes longer to warm up than land, so the mixture of cold and warm air creates unstable air masses that cause things like thunderstorms.
While spring weather’s unpredictability can make it challenging to forecast accurately, there are some patterns that can help us prepare for what’s to come. For example, in North America, the eastern part of the continent tends to experience more significant temperature swings than the western part. In the western part of the continent, spring tends to be a more stable season. Of course, with global climate change, who knows how predictable anything will be in the long or short term?
Some research suggests that as the planet warms, we may start to see even more extreme weather events in the spring, including more severe storms and rainfall.
— WTF fun facts
Source: 5 Reasons Spring Is the Most Dynamic Weather Season — The Weather Channel