Oswego temperature fluctuactions: should we be concerned?

Oswego, NY – Frigid, windy, snowy, unbearable. These are just some of the ways SUNY Oswego students would describe a typical day in Oswego, but the weather has been anything but typical.

The past few weeks, Oswego has seen major temperature spikes, especially last week when temperatures bounced from low thirties to mid-sixties.

Michael Veres, a meteorology professor at SUNY Oswego, said these rapid changes in temperature are natural fluctuations.

“You can wind up having cold fronts and warm fronts come through rather rapidly. So, what we had was a warm front that came through which wound up giving us very warm conditions,” Professor Veres said. “That’s air from deep in the south that makes it way as far north as us, and then the next day, we can wind up having cold air from up in the center of Canada that turns around and plunges on top of us.”

These temperature changes can have environmental impacts, with one of the biggest concerns being plants budding early. If 60 degree temperatures continue in late February and early March, plants will bud and crops will begin to grow. If the temperature fluctuates back to subfreezing temperatures, those plants and crops will die.

Students on the SUNY Oswego campus have mixed reactions to the inconsistent weather, not knowing whether to enjoy the warmth or be concerned for our planet.

“It’s a little weird, you don’t really know if it’s going to be nice out or not when you wake up in the morning. You don’t know if it’s going to be like sixty degrees and sunny or a white out,” SUNY Oswego Junior Brian Bueche said.

“There should be concern if statistics show a trend of warmer winters,” said Professor Veres.