5 Reasons Spring Is The Most Extreme Weather Season, From A Rising Tornado Threat To Major Snowstorms

Why Spring Is The Most Extreme Season

S​pring is a battleground season that's notorious for unleashing a large range of extreme weather conditions. Tornadoes, major snowstorms, flooding rain, high winds and big temperature fluctuations go hand-in-hand with the season, sometimes all occurring at once within the same storm.

W​armth Of Spring Battles Leftover Winter Cold

The reason this happens is because it's a time of year that features a battle between warmer air trying to push farther north and the last of winter's cold plunging southward out of Canada. That temperature contrast fuels a strong jet stream that propels intense low-pressure systems capable of packing highly variable weather conditions.

Next, we look at five reasons why this setup typically makes spring the most volatile weather season.

1. Late Snowfall Can Still Be Major

Many parts of the country can still see winter storms in spring, especially early in the season.

March and April are the snowiest months of the year in the Rockies and High Plains. The last measurable snow in many cities across the nation's northern tier doesn't happen until April.

Heavy spring snowstorms commonly impact areas from the Rockies and the adjacent Front Range into the Plains and upper Midwest. Sometimes these storms even produce blizzard conditions.

T​he Northeast has a long history of significant winter storms in March, with the 1993 Superstorm being the most severe in modern times. More recently, four nor'easters hit the region in three weeks during March 2018. Parts of the region have also been hit in April, including a blizzard in 1982.

2. Tornado Threat Peaks

Tornado outbreaks are probably the weather event most often associated with spring.

Tornado activity in the Lower 48 increases in March before peaking in April, May and June. Those are the core months for tornadoes, but they can occur at other times during the year.

March averages the fewest spring tornadoes, with 104 per year. That average increases to 202 in April and 260 in May, based on the period of 2004-23.

The area of highest tornado risk in spring shifts from the Deep South in March toward the Plains and Midwest from April into May. That follows the northward migration of the jet stream further into spring.

3. Spring Floods

River flooding often occurs in spring, especially from the Plains and Midwest into parts of New England.

A sharp spring warmup can quickly melt lingering snowpack that can then spill into rivers and cause them to flood.

An extreme example of severe flooding happened in March 2019 when heavy rain from a bomb cyclone combined with melting snow to produce a flooding disaster in parts of the Plains and Midwest. NOAA estimated the total damage from this historic flood event at $10.8 billion. It was one of the nation's costliest inland flood events on record.

Flash flooding is also an increasing threat in spring as thunderstorms become more numerous. Thunderstorms can produce rainfall rates of more than an inch per hour. Major flash flooding can occur if that heavy rain persists for several hours in a particular area.

4. Temperature Swings

Spring is also known for its up-and-down temperatures.

This is particularly the case in March and April when strong low-pressure systems moving through the central and eastern states draw warm air ahead into the northern tier of the country. That could result in a brief couple of days with some enjoyable warmth.

But an inevitable cold plunge typically arrives after the storm departs and takes away the glimpse of spring temperatures.

The atmosphere becomes less prone to wild temperature swings later in spring and allows for longer periods of warmer weather.

Of course, average temperatures steadily rise through the season as well. Most of the country has average highs in the 60s, 70s and 80s by May.

(​MORE: How Average Highs, Lows Rise Through Spring)

5. A Windy Time Of Year

Gusty winds often accompany potent spring storms before, during and after their passage through the Lower 48.

Spring as a whole (March to May) is the windiest season for more than half the contiguous United States, according to a post on Bluesky from Brian Brettschneider, an Alaska-based climatologist.

The windiest time is early spring. March is the windiest month for many cities from the Plains to the East Coast, but stronger winds also accompany storm systems well into April.

Sometimes those winds can contribute to blowing dust in the Southwest and Plains.