John Wheeler: 3 main reasons why weather conditions here are prone to extremes – InForum

FARGO — The climate of the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest region is prone to extremes due to three key elements. All three elements arise from our location. Since the region is located in the center of the North American continent, it is far from any source of high humidity. It is bordered to the west by the Rocky Mountains. The mountains receive most of their moisture on the western slopes from the Pacific Ocean, so that storm systems have little enough moisture to drop rain and snow near the mountains, but receive increasing moisture from the Atlantic and Gulf as they move east.

Since there are no mountains to our north or south, air moves freely in these directions, causing extreme temperature fluctuations. The third element is the downward slope in height from west to east. This can lead to increases in temperature and precipitation as rising air cools and sinking air warms, cold air becomes more humid and warm air dries.

John Wheeler has been Chief Meteorologist at WDAY since May 1985. Wheeler grew up in the South, in Louisiana and Alabama, and credits his family’s move to the Midwest with developing his appreciation for weather and climate. In his youth, Wheeler lived in Wisconsin and Iowa. He attended Iowa State University and earned a bachelor’s degree in Meteorology in 1984. Wheeler worked at WOI-TV in central Iowa for about a year before moving to Fargo and WDAY.