The U.S. Locations With the Biggest Recorded Temperature Swings, Ranked

In transitioning seasons, some days can be tough when you have to plan out the layers to wear that you'll shed later in the day. Depending on where you live, you might need to dress for 40 degrees in the morning and 70 degrees in the afternoon, because that's how much the weather is expected to change.While those kinds of changes can happen occasionally, there are some locations across America that have seen much more dramatic drops and rises over the course of a day. Some days have even been so extreme that they're still on the record books after nearly a century.These locations, as reported by Daily Passport, have experienced record-breaking temperature swings.Loma, MontanaBrowning, MontanaFairfield, MontanaDenver, ColoradoAmarillo, TexasLoma, MontanaNorthern Montana field and mountains | Shelby Carol Cude/GettyImagesThe census-designated place (CDP) of Loma took temperatures to an extreme in 1972, experiencing the largest change ever in the country within a 24-hour period. Residents woke up to 54 degrees below zero Fahrenheit on the morning of January 14, 1972 and a day later, the temperature had risen to 49 degrees. That's a 103-degree swing. Meteorologists believed the cause was a Chinook wind, which is a warm, dry wind that comes off the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, which quickly pushed the cold air out of Loma over 24 hours.Browning, MontanaGlacier National Park | George Rose/GettyImagesAnother Chinook wind was to blame for the largest temperature drop ever recorded. This time, the Chinook wind kept the town of Browning warm at a balmy 44 degrees Fahrenheit on January 23, 1911. But the warm air was soon beaten back by an arctic cold front, dropping the temperature over 100 degrees to 56 degrees below zero. That change still stands as the record for the biggest 24-hour drop in temperature more than 100 years later.Fairfield, MontanaWindmills at a wind farm near Fairfield, Montana | GlovTech/GettyImagesApparently, winter winds don't mix well in Montana, which is why three towns in the state top the list for the most extreme temperature changes. Like the others, warm air coming over the mountains mixed with arctic air to create a huge drop in temperature in Fairfield on December 24, 1924. That time, the temperature went from a warm 63 degrees to -21 degrees in only 12 hours. The drop of 84 degrees in temperature is believed to be the fastest temperature drop ever recorded in that time frame.Denver, ColoradoFall colors in City Park downtown Denver Colorado Rocky Mountains | milehightraveler/GettyImagesDenver's proximity to the Rocky Mountains has an effect on temperatures. In 1872, the city recorded a 66-degree change over only a 24-hour period. On January 25 of that year, the temperature hit a low of -20 degrees after being up as high as 46 degrees, marking a 66-degree change. Residents of the Mile High City still see wild temperature swings today. In 2015 and 2022, the city had days where the temperature changed 61 degrees in a short period of time.Amarillo, TexasAmarillo Downtown Skyline At Dusk, Backlit With A Vibrant Sunset | Dee Liu/GettyImagesMontana may have Chinook winds, but Texas has Blue Northers, which are usually associated with a rapidly moving cold front that starts out with dark skies with rain or snow and then brings blue skies and bone-chilling winds to the area. That was particularly true on December 12, 1919 when the temperature in Amarillo, Texas, reached a low of 1 single degree. It was a 65-degree drop from the much warmer 66 degrees earlier in that day.