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Two weeks ago, a massive lake effect snow storm left some residents of southern Buffalo, NY under almost 7 feet of snow. However, others just several miles away saw far less accumulation. So why is that?

Lake effect snow is caused by frigid air moving over a warm body of water. In the United States, this is specifically the Great Lakes. While the air temperature a few thousand feet up may be below zero degrees Fahrenheit, the Great Lakes temperatures are still warmer than freezing because water cools at a much slower rate. This extreme temperature contrast causes moisture to be sucked out of the lake and rise through the atmosphere. Quickly, this moisture condenses and forms clouds.

These clouds begin to quickly rise through the troposphere (the layer of the atmosphere where our weather occurs), causing more moisture to condense until snow begins to fall. The larger the temperature difference between the lake and air about 5,000 feet up, the higher the snowfall rate will be; with 2 to 3 inches per hour falling in extreme cases. If you are offset by even 5 to 10 miles from the main trajectory of the wind off the lake, the difference in the weather can be like night and day. Blizzard conditions can be contrasted with sunny skies over such a small distance in lake-effect scenarios.

Since wind typically blows from west to east in the U.S. lake effect snow typically only occurs on the eastern side of the Great Lakes. This is why cities such as Buffalo and Cleveland are extremely suitable to piling up the snow, while a special weather pattern needs to be in place for Chicago to see lake effect snow. A bitter northeast wind off Lake Michigan will pile up the snow in Chicago.

As we enter meteorological winter, be sure to stay up to date on potential lake effect snow alerts or other hazardous outlooks.

Source: National Weather Service

Image: By fotomacher_ch from Pixabay

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What is Lake-Effect Snow?