(WHTM) — You may have noticed over the last few days that the wind has been brutal, leading to downed trees, power lines, and in some cases really cold temperatures.

But, why? Is it always windy this time of year? The answer is yes.

To put it simply, the wind is moving air, which is caused by differences in air pressure within the atmosphere. Air under high pressure moves towards the area of low pressure. The greater the difference between air pressure, the stronger the wind.

The wind event we had on Tuesday, March 14, according to Meteorologist Dan Tomaso, was caused by a low-pressure system strengthening (also called ‘deepening’ in meteorological terms) along the east coast and a high-pressure system on the western side. This caused the wind to be right over our area.

Now, this was only for one type of event. The spring tends to bring a lot of wind to our area due to the jet stream. The jet stream is a band of very strong predominantly westerly air currents several miles above the earth. This is the force that brings high and low-pressure systems to the area.

This is more active during the spring and fall seasons. Which means more pressure changes, leading to more wind. Temperature differences tend to be more intense in these months and cause higher pressures.

Don’t be surprised to see more windy days in the Midstate over the next couple of weeks. The change in seasons brings changes in air pressure, and that means more wind for us!