Editor's note: Are you experiencing fluctuating winter weather in your area? Flowers sprouting through snow, icicles collecting on green tree leaves? Send photos of the winter weather extremes from your area.
(CNN) -- Charlie Gribble got a new sled and new ski pants for Christmas. But the presents the 3-year-old and his brother received still have the price tags on them.
While January in Chicago is usually a good time to play in the snow, Charlie's mom, Maureen, had different plans earlier this week. She told her sons they were going to the park to ride tricycles and play basketball.
"But when do we get to go sledding?" Charlie asked.
Well, Charlie, you should just have to wait about 48 hours.
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John Mangrum returned from a vacation in early January and was greeted with about 10 inches of snow that had fallen the previous few days. "Luckily," he said, "the temperature had warmed up enough to produce some beautiful icicles hanging from the roof." Cindy Schultz spotted these intricate crystals in the frost outside her kitchen window. "Winter can be a beautiful time of year, as long as you bundle up!" she said. Ice and snow are not very common in Knoxville, Tennessee, says Sabah Moetasim, so "we tend to enjoy these situations and capture them in memories." She used a macro lens to capture this shot of icicles hanging off a backyard swing on January 25, the day a wintry mix of rain and snow hit the area. Caroline Newby saw a news report about the frozen formations on Paterson, New Jersey's Great Falls. She called her sister and told her, "Get dressed warm, we are going to get some photos." Newby says, "I love, love, love winter photography and will dress like an eskimo to get good photos." After a late January ice storm in Greenville, North Carolina, Richard Barnhill was walking around his parents' yard when he spotted this cardinal and "took as many pictures as I could." Stormchaser Danny Murphy spotted these icicles on his son's pickup truck as Iowa dealt with its worst ice storm since 2007. He snapped photos on January 27. The state experienced up to a quarter-inch of ice covering trees, power lines and roads. "We rarely get ice storms in northeast Iowa, so this is a bit unusual for us," said Murphy. Ice photography can be "a contact sport ... with the ground," says Kevin Cavallin, a biologist and amateur photographer in Ames, Iowa. He came close to falling a few times trying to kneel down to get a good shot of icicles on a railing. Be careful out there! Freezing rain in Centerville, Utah, left graphic designer Katie Poloni's car wrapped in a thin layer of ice. "We didn't know what to do. Spent an hour trying to scrape the ice off my car and gave up to write this message." That is quite the frozen fountain in New York's Bryant Park. Miriam Cintron heard about the spectacle January 25 on Twitter and wanted to capture the moment. "I think the frozen fountain epitomizes just how cold it has been in NYC this past week," she said. "If you spill coffee on the sidewalk, it will freeze in minutes." "I never saw palm trees with icicles nearby," remarked Jutka T. Emoke Barabas on this frozen fountain, which she photographed on January 14. She's been in Vegas during the winter before but says she "never saw so much ice." "Beauty always comes with great storms, no matter where you are," says Lee Gunderson. "When the sun comes on frozen rain or hoar frost it is always beautiful." Albany, New York Franklin, Wisconsin Knoxville, Tennessee Paterson, New Jersey Greenville, North Carolina Hazleton, Iowa Hazleton, Iowa Ames, Iowa Centerville, Utah New York Las Vegas Stettler, Alberta, Canada HIDE CAPTION << < 
Cindy Schultz spotted these intricate crystals in the frost outside her kitchen window. "Winter can be a beautiful time of year, as long as you bundle up!" she said. 
Ice and snow are not very common in Knoxville, Tennessee, says Sabah Moetasim, so "we tend to enjoy these situations and capture them in memories." She used a macro lens to capture this shot of icicles hanging off a backyard swing on January 25, the day a wintry mix of rain and snow hit the area. 
Caroline Newby saw a news report about the frozen formations on Paterson, New Jersey's Great Falls. She called her sister and told her, "Get dressed warm, we are going to get some photos." Newby says, "I love, love, love winter photography and will dress like an eskimo to get good photos." 
After a late January ice storm in Greenville, North Carolina, Richard Barnhill was walking around his parents' yard when he spotted this cardinal and "took as many pictures as I could." 
Stormchaser Danny Murphy spotted these icicles on his son's pickup truck as Iowa dealt with its worst ice storm since 2007. He snapped photos on January 27. 
The state experienced up to a quarter-inch of ice covering trees, power lines and roads. "We rarely get ice storms in northeast Iowa, so this is a bit unusual for us," said Murphy. 
Ice photography can be "a contact sport ... with the ground," says Kevin Cavallin, a biologist and amateur photographer in Ames, Iowa. He came close to falling a few times trying to kneel down to get a good shot of icicles on a railing. Be careful out there! 
Freezing rain in Centerville, Utah, left graphic designer Katie Poloni's car wrapped in a thin layer of ice. "We didn't know what to do. Spent an hour trying to scrape the ice off my car and gave up to write this message." 
That is quite the frozen fountain in New York's Bryant Park. Miriam Cintron heard about the spectacle January 25 on Twitter and wanted to capture the moment. "I think the frozen fountain epitomizes just how cold it has been in NYC this past week," she said. "If you spill coffee on the sidewalk, it will freeze in minutes." 
"I never saw palm trees with icicles nearby," remarked Jutka T. Emoke Barabas on this frozen fountain, which she photographed on January 14. She's been in Vegas during the winter before but says she "never saw so much ice." 
"Beauty always comes with great storms, no matter where you are," says Lee Gunderson. "When the sun comes on frozen rain or hoar frost it is always beautiful." Albany, New York Franklin, Wisconsin Knoxville, Tennessee Paterson, New Jersey Greenville, North Carolina Hazleton, Iowa Hazleton, Iowa Ames, Iowa Centerville, Utah New York Las Vegas Stettler, Alberta, Canada HIDE CAPTION << < 
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A pedestrian bundled up against the cold walks through the streets of Manhattan on Friday, January 24, in New York City. Polar air settled in over the northeastern U.S. Wednesday, with temperatures in the teens and 20s. Forecasters warned that "bitterly cold conditions" were expected across much of the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Mideast through this weekend. A surfer store with guys in swimwear seems an especially cruel sight for these bundled-up New Yorkers on Tuesday, January 22, as frigid temps hit the region. A lone pedestrian braves the winter chill on a Manhattan street on Thursday, January 24. Much of the Northeast is experiencing colder than usual temperatures, but the weather doesn't deter this woman on Wednesday, January 23, in New York. Ice covers firefighter Michael De Jesus while he mans a water cannon at the scene of a warehouse fire in Chicago on January 24. No, it's not a scene from the latest remake of "Anna Karenina," just a woman trying to ward off the cold in New York on January 22. A man keeps bundled up as he waits to cross the street in New York on January 23. A woman pulls on her gloves on January 23 in New York. Firefighters battle a warehouse fire in Chicago on January 24. A woman hails a taxi on Lexington Avenue on Manhattan's Upper East Side on January 24. A woman keeps covered up as steam rises from the street on January 23 in New York. The U.S. Capitol in Washington is blanketed with snow on January 24. The same brutal Arctic cold front that's delivered subzero temperatures across the upper Midwest and Northeast is forecast to bring ice and freezing rain to the South and Mid-Atlantic states. A man walks past a steam vent on Madison Avenue in Manhattan in the early morning of January 24. A pedestrian bundled up against the cold walks along a street in Manhattan on January 24. Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air HIDE CAPTION << < 
A surfer store with guys in swimwear seems an especially cruel sight for these bundled-up New Yorkers on Tuesday, January 22, as frigid temps hit the region. 
A lone pedestrian braves the winter chill on a Manhattan street on Thursday, January 24. 
Much of the Northeast is experiencing colder than usual temperatures, but the weather doesn't deter this woman on Wednesday, January 23, in New York. 
Ice covers firefighter Michael De Jesus while he mans a water cannon at the scene of a warehouse fire in Chicago on January 24. 
No, it's not a scene from the latest remake of "Anna Karenina," just a woman trying to ward off the cold in New York on January 22. 
A man keeps bundled up as he waits to cross the street in New York on January 23. 
A woman pulls on her gloves on January 23 in New York. 
Firefighters battle a warehouse fire in Chicago on January 24. 
A woman hails a taxi on Lexington Avenue on Manhattan's Upper East Side on January 24. 
A woman keeps covered up as steam rises from the street on January 23 in New York. 
The U.S. Capitol in Washington is blanketed with snow on January 24. The same brutal Arctic cold front that's delivered subzero temperatures across the upper Midwest and Northeast is forecast to bring ice and freezing rain to the South and Mid-Atlantic states. 
A man walks past a steam vent on Madison Avenue in Manhattan in the early morning of January 24. 
A pedestrian bundled up against the cold walks along a street in Manhattan on January 24. Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air Blast of Arctic air HIDE CAPTION << < 
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Tornado forms before reporter on scene 
25-foot ice shoves take over street 
Weather phenomenon gives snow new look It's been that kind of week in Charlie's hometown of Chicago, where it went from a record-breaking high temperature of 63 on Tuesday morning to thunderstorms moving in, followed by snowfall.
And the wacky weather wasn't just in the Windy City.
By the time the weekend arrives, much of the country will have experienced a temperature roller coaster taking folks from shorts and T-shirt weather to conditions that require heavy coats and gloves.
Kansas City saw highs into the mid-70s recently, but temperatures dropped 40 degrees over several days after a surge of Arctic air arrived. In Richmond, Virginia, it was 72 on Wednesday, and on Friday it is supposed to be in the upper 30s.
High winds, tornado trap Georgia residents, turn over cars
Tuesday saw 240 record highs set across 27 states.
Portions of eastern Texas saw record highs -- it was 91 degrees Tuesday in Corpus Christi -- as warmer, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico surged into the central and eastern part of the country.
This kind of weather wouldn't be so unusual if it were spring or fall, but there seems to be something different about the jet stream -- the flow of air that divides cold and warm air -- this year, said CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen.
The jet stream flows west to east, typically at 100 mph, although its wind speed can often top 200 mph. If you visualize it as a line with a pattern of bumps and dips, those curves have been much taller in January, Hennen said.
"We've always had dips and valleys in the pattern, but this year they have been very large," he said. "It's also unusual that you have that much warm air that far north at this time of year. It's almost unheard of."
The unseasonably warm weather has been good for going to the park, but it also led to the severe weather that developed Tuesday night and Wednesday as cold air moved east, clashing with the warm, wet air.
"Where there is so much moisture in the air, the cold air won't let it stay there," CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said. "The cold air pushes into the warm air, (and) the rain and the humidity in the air has to fall out."
And here come the storms.
"It's the clash between warm and cold temperatures that enables such things as tornadoes, hail and strong winds to occur," Jim Hoke, the director of the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, said.
J. Shepherd Marshall, the president of the American Meteorological Society, said in an e-mail that the cold temperatures that preceded this week's record highs may have two factors behind them. One of those is what meteorologists call a stratospheric warming event.
That caused the pressure holding back the cold air in the Arctic to weaken -- as if someone opened the refrigerator door of the North Pole. That cold air will now slide into the United States, leading to a frigid February, the website Climate Central explained.
It's something that has been happening more often in recent years.
"Stratospheric warming events have been increasing in frequency the past decade or so -- possibly related to diminishing sea ice," Marshall said.
That might be linked to climate change, but he cautioned that one week of extreme temperature changes does not equal pinpoint evidence of global warming.
"Weather is to your mood as climate is to your personality. You cannot judge climate by a day or week," he said.
The other factor is a weather phenomenon that circles the world at the equator called the Madden-Julian Oscillation.
"Because the MJO influences (temperature) through tropical rainfall, it can modify weather patterns far away from the equator," Climate Central reported.
In Chicago, people like Corey Lubowich enjoyed a short break from the cold. Lubowich, a 24-year-old theater producer who grew up in the suburbs, said he doesn't ever remember a week like this in January.
"Chicago weather is generally unpredictable, but particularly so this winter," he said.
The other day he walked out of his place bound for the gym wearing just a hoodie and pants. But on Friday, it'll be back to the layer strategy -- T-shirt covered by hoodie covered by thick jacket. And add a scarf, hat and gloves.
Maureen Gribble, who also grew up in Chicago, said she had a friend who just moved there from California and was puzzled by the mild winter.
"I didn't want to burst her bubble," Gribble said.
The stay-at-home mom said she helped her buddy get set up for the real winter.
After all, there is no bad weather, just bad clothing choices.
It looks like Gribble and her family will be bundling up again this weekend when they head up to Wisconsin. It's going to be in the 20s. She hopes there'll be a lot of snow, and Charlie will get a chance to finally jump on that sled.
iReport: Finding art in icy weather
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