Wild swing in temperatures is SO Midwest

KMSP - While temperatures in the metro have been pretty consistent over the last couple of days, the same cannot be said for our neighbors to the east.  Parts of Wisconsin were in the low 80s on Friday, while other areas within a 2 hours’ drive were barely above freezing.  The storm that has brought the scattered showers and weekend dreariness to Minnesota sent a surge of warm air northward toward Lake Michigan.  This allowed temperatures to climb into the 80s in Chicago and a couple select locations in southern Wisconsin.  Less than 30 miles north in Milwaukee, temperatures were in the mid-60s.  You continue northward, and temperatures in Green Bay were struggling just to get into the 40s.  That’s more than a 40 degree temperature contrast in about 120 miles.  While this is tough to comprehend, and even more mind blowing to experience, it is pretty normal for the Upper Midwest.  Large swings in temperature are common place in the spring and fall as strong storms pull in chilly air from Canada, and very warm and sometimes moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico itself.  This compacts the spread of temperatures to a very small distance and can lead to some of the largest temperature contrasts over a spatial area on the planet (when not factoring in the change in elevation).  One thing’s for sure, the weather around here is rarely boring.