What makes different days different temperatures?

Question

You know, you can have like a reasonable day that's fairly warm on Tuesday, and then come Wednesday it's sweltering hot.

What exactly causes the difference in temperature from day to day? And how can they be such extreme differences, too?

Answer 1

It has to do with the jet stream, high and low pressure areas, movement of air masses and somewhat whether the air is stable or unstable. The jet stream generally flows from east to west in our northern hemisphere. The movement of air is influenced with the jet stream and its direction. There are air masses, such as the polar continental in the north, maritime tropical etc. The air is being pulled from these climactic zones and as such the temperature associated with these zones comes along with them. The day to day influence comes from these air masses and also the moisture content within them. Some days the air is being pulled from a tropical mass and as it is is coming it warms the surrounding air and keeps moving until it finally reaches your area, thus the change in the temperature from one day to the next. The extereme differences are from the movement. You could have hot temperatures one day, and with the change in high and low pressure systems, and their movement, you could be pulling in colder air from the north with the passing of a system.

Answer 2

The weatherman ;)