What Is Lake-Effect Snow?
Heavy bands of snow that form when very cold air blows across a warmer, unfrozen lake, picking up moisture and dumping it downwind. In technical terms: Mesoscale convective snowfall forced by cold air advection over a relatively warm lake, typically requiring a lake-to-850 hPa temperature difference of about 13 degrees C or more and a sufficiently long fetch.
Also called: LES, Lake-Effect Snow Band
Lake-Effect Snow In Plain English
Heavy bands of snow that form when very cold air blows across a warmer, unfrozen lake, picking up moisture and dumping it downwind.
The Technical Definition
Mesoscale convective snowfall forced by cold air advection over a relatively warm lake, typically requiring a lake-to-850 hPa temperature difference of about 13 degrees C or more and a sufficiently long fetch; organized as shoreline-parallel single bands or multiple wind-parallel bands, capable of rates of 2-5 inches per hour.
Lessons That Use Lake-Effect Snow
- Lake-Effect Snow And Nor'easters Unit 11: Winter Weather
