Apart from switching from hot to cold, the annual switch in seasons also brings another shift you may not know about.

As we head into winter, consistency gets thrown out the window. We’ve been accustomed to sustained stretches of any weather you can imagine- think of the long, dry stretch to kick off autumn, repeated bouts of rain in early summer, and frequent warmth during the dog days. In Old Man Winter’s house, strong, sudden temperature swings are common, howling winds chill the air more often than not, and low temperatures can sometimes happen in the middle of the day.

Let’s get some perspective first. To understand the different volatility across seasons, let’s look at the three daily temperature records the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport set this year. We set two records during meteorological winter- both low temperature records, which were 28° and 23° below average, respectively. However, a daily high record set on June 24th was 94°F, only 11°F above average.

This change in departure isn’t a coincidence- that 11-degree swing above average that broke a record actually happened ten separate times during the winter, with most of these days not coming close to records. It’s a well-known fact that summer just tends to be more “moderate” than winter, but what gives?

To start, let’s take a look at the thing that gives us all this heat, the Sun. As Earth tilts on its axis, it basically “wobbles” up and down, placing the Sun overhead at different latitudes throughout the year. This is the basis for astronomical seasons. When the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun, this is our summer, while the opposite tilt would mean it is winter.

Everybody in the Northern Hemisphere gets sunlight in the summer, as Earth is tilted towards the sun. This allows everybody to get the Sun’s heat directly, and as a result, heat us better. This is not the case in the winter. As our hemisphere tilts away from the Sun, people near the North Pole lose sunlight for the entire day- effectively blocking them from receiving direct sunlight- and as a result, direct heat.

With a bone-chilling Arctic and a warm Equator, the temperature gradient across the hemisphere becomes much higher than in the summer. Aloft, this impacts the dynamics of the Jet Stream, a fast-moving conveyor belt of air high above our heads. (Read more about the jet stream here). A wintertime jet stream differs from a summertime jet stream in three main ways.

The first is its strength. Because jet streams are controlled by temperature gradients, the polar jet stream becomes much stronger during the winter. Here, winds can blow in excess of 250 mph, something seen very rarely during the summer months. Additionally, the jet moves further south as the mid-latitudes become colder during the winter months. The final difference, and most consequential to weather consistency, is its structure. Summertime jets are usually zonal, or linear/horizontal, thanks to a lack of strong winds. During the winter, the pure strength of these jets can cause them to become meridional, or take a more north-south track, featuring ebbs, flows, and buckles. Dips in the jet stream are known as troughs, usually featuring poor weather, and rises in the jet stream are known as ridges. These are much more pronounced in the winter, which can lead to radical shifts in temperature occurring more often.

The shifts in temperature aren’t the only thing that is featured, thanks to a volatile jet stream. Because they move faster, this can increase the speed of storm systems. Compared to summertime weather, which usually features stalled rain systems that can plague an area for days, wintertime weathermakers can be in and out of an area within hours.

While I will admit there has been a tone of consistency to start the month, Mother Nature is hinting at spicing things up. There’s a strong signal that our current cold, wintry pattern will flip, causing temperatures to warm 30 degrees within the timeframe of a few days.