Temperature change...

I'll never forget the hike we took in college thru the "100 Mile Wilderness" in Maine. Much of it is in Baxter State Park, and it's the northern end of the AT, which terminates at the summit of Mt Katahdin. We were hiking at the base in cutoffs and t-shirts. By the time we were getting near the top of the Knife Edge trail, near the summit, we had taken every layer and scrap of clothing from our daypacks and put them on. The temp at the base was mid-70's, and sunny, and at the summit it was below freezing, a little sleet/freezing rain, and what seemed like 50 knot winds. That was in summer. I don't recall exactly what I had for extras, but, it was probably a wool sweater back then, a rain shell and wind pants. I always had a watch cap in the pack, and remember wearing my spare socks for mittens.

I've had similar experiences on other mountains, but, that was the one that I remember thinking, "I was swimming in the Penobscot River only about a mile from here earlier today in nothing but a smile, and now I wish I had my ski gear"

Ahhhh youth...

I was back in Iowa just before Christmas. Went to my sisters for brunch at 10am, and it was 46 (not bad for Iowa in Dec). We had breakfast and played some games and went out to help my brother in law with chores at 4 and it was 2 below (not windchill).

We can get some pretty big temperature swings out here in the desert too. It makes for some interesting hikes and hunting trips, that is for sure.

I've seen it change 30 degrees in less than one hour.
Very distinct cold front boundary.

Also have seen thunderstorm turn a 90 degree day into 40 degrees and hailing.

Keep your coat handy and don't roll your windows down too far if you're away from the car.

weather changes very fast here. Temperature fluctuate from +5 to - 10 in a day.

The temp will fluctuate faster outside the city by as much as 15 degrees celcius.

People have to dress in proper winter boots, clothes if they want to survive brutal wind, drifting snow.

In Iowa it can vary quite wildly. Just last week we had a 50F difference in Low temperatures from one day to the next (-20F to 30F). The high on the second day was in the mid 40s! Then we can throw in the whole, tornados and flood watches to blizzard warnings in a single storm thing.

- Eric