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November 6, 2007
The Lowdown On Lake-Effect Snow
There's a cold front moving towards us and according to Weather.com, it brings with it some abnormally cold temperatures and a strong chance of lake-effect snows.
Despite living in the Northeast for decades, I have never heard that term before: lake-effect snow. This is likely due to the fact that I relied upon my parents to tell me when to wear a coat. And I barely listened, even then.
Now I have a pretty high tech weather station that tells me all the little metric details, including flashing little comments I can understand, like "It's raining cats and dogs!!!"
At first, I was just excited. The first snow of the year! Yay! Then I got suspicious. Does lake-effect snow stick? It better. I need to take pictures or I will get in trouble with Shane.
Anyway, turns out, it does stick. According to Wikipedia, it can actually pile. Lake-effect snow is a type of snowsquall (another word that makes me giddy!). It occurs when cold air passes over warmer lakes and picks up energy and a lot of vapor. Narrow, intense areas will then have high precipitation - basically a snowbelt (when it's snow) or very intense rain if it's warmer. This is why some of upstate New York gets nailed with snow all the time, since it's right next to the Great Lakes, and arctic winds come whistling down from Canada and blast the Northeast.
Some areas are expected to get as much as 8 inches of snow by tomorrow night!
Posted by sorsha at November 6, 2007 11:02 AM
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Comments
I learned two new words/phrases and I can use them in one sentence!
"I want to experience a lake-effect snowsquall!"
Alright, so it's a bit of a redundant use. Sounds fun, though, right?
I had also never heard of either of those. I did know that during snow there is often a warming effect. If, in this case, it's created by picking up energy (heat) off the lake with the water, then that makes sense. And it doesn't mean it goes above freezing, either.
I wonder how large of a lake this can occur near? That is, could it happen over a smaller pond? Or will the pond, due to having less water, be that much colder and thus not be able to create this effect?
Posted by: Shane Conder | November 6, 2007 11:48 AM
I figure it can happen on a smaller, pond level, but the energy of the storm is proportional to the size of the warm and cold area colliding, so the severity and therefore quantifiability would likely be less on a pond.
Another question is - does the differentiation between the hot and cold make a difference in the severity or is it more complex than that. E.g. if there was a hot geyser for example, could it cause this kind of effect, or would other factors change the situation (steam, etc.)
Posted by: Laurie Darcey | November 6, 2007 12:50 PM
I wonder how you can identify this as opposed to regular snow...
I think I saw this at Fallen Leaf Lake one autumn, but thankfully my experience with snow is very limited.
Posted by: Richard | November 7, 2007 9:27 AM
I don't think the snow itself is different, it's more about the shape of the snow field. I think if you see the weather radar shots, you'll see long, skinny snowing areas, with very heavy snow in them, and the cold front hitting a warm body of water just before the snow area.
Posted by: Lauren Darcey | November 7, 2007 10:07 AM