We are all aware of the wacky winter we’ve had here in Wisconsin.  First it snows, then two days later it melts.  Then after a couple days it snows and then the next day it’s 45 degrees outside and the snow is once again gone.  Some students are devastated, and other students could care less.  I am not devastated, but I am disappointed this year.  There’s one question on everyone’s mind: why is this happening?  The answer is not global warming; it all has to do with something called a jet stream.

  A jet stream is basically a current of air running west to east across the northern latitudes of the U.S., Europe, and Asia, altering the temperature and precipitation.  It’s not perfectly straight, however; every so often there are dips or bumps going north or south.  All of the cold air is north of the jet stream and the southern “dips” allow the cold air to go south along with the dip, bringing, you guessed it, snow and cold temperatures.  But this year (2011/2012) the jet stream was straighter than usual.  Meteorologists and scientists are not sure why the jet stream is the way it is this year, but they know two things for sure.  One, it’s not global warming, and two, there’s nothing they can do about it (right now anyway).

  So if you really want snow so badly, hop a train or a plane and head up to Alaska where more than 24 feet of snow has fallen since November 2011.