Parts of the northeasterly United States are looking at a ginormous amount ofsnowfalljust beforeThanksgiving — particularly westerly New York , which could see “ multiple feet ” of lake - gist snow . You might be vaguely conversant with the mountains of drift this effect produces , but what really causes it ?
As you in all probability guessed , you need alaketo experience lake - burden snow . The primary ingredient in create lake - effect C. P. Snow is atemperature differencebetween the lake and the atmosphere above it . Because water has a in high spirits specific rut , it warm and cool much more slow than the air around it . All summertime , the sun heats the lake , which stays warm deeply into fall . When aura temperatures dip , we get the necessary temperature difference for lake - consequence C. P. Snow .
As the cool air authorise over the lake , moisture from the water evaporates and the breeze forthwith above the surface heats up . This warm , tight atmosphere rise and condenses , speedily forming heavyclouds . The rate of change in temperature as you move up through the air is known as the “ lapse charge per unit ” ; the not bad the lapse charge per unit , the more fluid a organization is — and the more prone it is to createweatherevents .
Encountering the shoring only exasperate the position . increase friction causes the wind to slow down and clouds to “ pile up ” while hills and varying topography thrust air travel up even more dramatically , causing more cooling and more abridgement .
The other major factors that shape the item of a lake - effect snowstorm are the preference of the wind and the specific lake . Winds blow along the duration of a lake create greater “ fetch , ” the area of water over which the wind blows , and thus more extreme tempest . The constraints of the lake itself make everlasting boundary between backbreaking Baron Snow of Leicester and just a few flurries and literal walls of nose candy that advance onto the shore . The southerly and eastern shores of theGreat Lakesare debate “ nose candy belt ” because , with winds hold from the northwest , these areas tend to get hit the hardest .
A version of this story lead in 2014 ; it has been updated for 2022 .
