lake effect
Great Lakes phenomenon
Lake effect describes weather phenomena caused by cold air passing over a large, relatively warm body of water.
The air absorbs moisture and heat, producing intense localized precipitation—usually snow—on the downwind shore.
Cities near the Great Lakes experience dramatic lake effect snowfall: Buffalo got buried by lake effect last night.
Collected mass over time
- flurriesBrief, light precipitation
- blizzardViolent prolonged snowstorm
- whiteoutSnow blindness weather
- snowstormHeavy winter precipitation event
drifts · powder · snowbelt · bands · squalls · buried · plows · shoveling
Western New York city
- ClevelandNortheast Ohio metropolis
- SyracuseCity in two eras
- ErieNorthwestern Pennsylvania city
- RochesterNew York or Minnesota city
snowbelt · leeward · downwind · fetch · moisture · bands · squalls · Ontario
Heat transfer through movement
- fetchGo get and return
- evaporationLiquid turning to gas
- moistureSmall amounts of liquid
- humidityMoisture in atmosphere
instability · wind direction · air mass · cold front · precipitation · condensation · windward · leeward
Avoidance of excess
- warmingIncreasing in temperature
- coolingLosing thermal energy
- growing seasonTime crops can mature
- microclimateLocalized atmospheric zone
fruit belt · vineyards · orchards · fog · cloudiness · humidity · ice cover · wine region
accumulation
Collected mass over time
snowstorm · drifts · powder · snowbelt · bands · squalls · buried · plows · shoveling · snowpack
Buffalo
Western New York city
Rochester · snowbelt · leeward · downwind · fetch · moisture · bands · squalls · Ontario · Michigan
convective
Heat transfer through movement
- fetchGo get and return
- evaporationLiquid turning to gas
- moistureSmall amounts of liquid
humidity · instability · wind direction · air mass · cold front · precipitation · condensation · windward · leeward · onshore
moderation
Avoidance of excess
- warmingIncreasing in temperature
- coolingLosing thermal energy
- growing seasonTime crops can mature
microclimate · fruit belt · vineyards · orchards · fog · cloudiness · humidity · ice cover · wine region · tempering
- winter weatherblizzards, blizzard, snow, snowstorm, snowstorms
- Snowbeltheavy snowfall, snow squalls, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo
- mesoscale weathersquall lines, supercells, derechos, microbursts, downbursts
- microclimatesfrost pocket, rain shadow, urban heat island, sun trap, fog belt
- Western New YorkBuffalo, Hamburg, Amherst, Lancaster, Avon
- weatherweather, rain, sun, snow, wind
lake effectfrontal system
Boundary separating air masses
rain shadow · cold front · warm front · stationary front · low-pressure system
lake, effect, lakes, effects, effected, effecting, effective, effectively, effectiveness