Lake Effect Snow

[webny99]

For example, I work in Webster, NY. We got steady snow all day yesterday. It dumped over six inches and turned the roads white and slippery. I got home to find clear roads and no new snowfall except for a few flurries in the air. I live around 10 miles from work. I have never seen anything so absurd in my life.

Unlike other recent weather threads, this is not to be strictly snow- or winter-related.

[vdeane]

Lake effect bands are often quite specific about where they hit.  Nothing unusual about that.

[jeffandnicole]

Snow lines, and Snow/Rain lines, can be dramatic.  In the area I plow, I've seen nothing at one end of my zone, and a mess at the other end.

Lake Effect snows are very particular this these variables.  Just look at average snowfalls for towns near the Great Lakes, and they can verify considerably.

[webny99]

Lake effect bands are often quite specific about where they hit.  Nothing unusual about that.

Of course. However, I have never seen that dramatic a difference between two places I frequent. So this is the first time I can offer anecdotal evidence to prove your statement true.

In my experience, Lake Erie is the most famous of the Great Lakes for producing narrow, intense bands. Lake Ontario snows tend to be more widespread, with more gradual changes in intensity and total accumulation. I find it is rare that only portions of the Rochester area get snow. Total accumulation may differ by an inch or two, but if it's snowing, it will almost always be area-wide. Buffalo, on the other hand, is famous for getting feet of snow in the Southtowns and no accumulation north of the city. Of course, I have no statistics to back this theory up, but I intend to stand by it anyways.

[vdeane]

I've seen bands like that along I-81.  And Rochester ones can be tight too.  I remember one clinching trip I took where stuff along the parkway had heavy snow while NY 18 was fine.

[Brandon]

Wacky?  Um, there this thing called winter with lake-effect snow bands, happens every year.  Maybe you've heard of it?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake-effect_snow

[webny99]

Wacky?  Um, there this thing called winter with lake-effect snow bands, happens every year.  Maybe you've heard of it?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake-effect_snow

What is your standard of "wacky"?

Lake effect snow, which of course I know all about, is certainly one of nature's absurdities, despite the fact that it occurs every year. And that happened to be the most "wacky" weather event I've experienced recently. What did you expect, me to say I was picked up in a tornado and survived?

Also:

Unlike other recent weather threads, this is not to be strictly snow- or winter-related.

[Desert Man]

I'm in the CA desert where we're warm...including our mild winters. The highs at 78F/ 25C is pretty good for anywhere during winter. It won't be normal anywhere else between Christmas and New Years day... except southernmost Texas and most of Florida, on the other side of the country.

[Hurricane Rex]

Thundersnow, anyone? That is pretty rare.

[Brandon]

Thundersnow, anyone? That is pretty rare.

Now that is an event.  It's enough to make Cantore go nuts. 

[ET21]

Lake effect bands are often quite specific about where they hit.  Nothing unusual about that.

Of course. However, I have never seen that dramatic a difference between two places I frequent. So this is the first time I can offer anecdotal evidence to prove your statement true.

In my experience, Lake Erie is the most famous of the Great Lakes for producing narrow, intense bands. Lake Ontario snows tend to be more widespread, with more gradual changes in intensity and total accumulation. I find it is rare that only portions of the Rochester area get snow. Total accumulation may differ by an inch or two, but if it's snowing, it will almost always be area-wide. Buffalo, on the other hand, is famous for getting feet of snow in the Southtowns and no accumulation north of the city. Of course, I have no statistics to back this theory up, but I intend to stand by it anyways.

It's quite common for that to happen with LES bands, especially if you start involving meso-lows. These are small circulations that develop within the instability of the lake water and cold air combo. These could produce snowfall rates of 3"+ per hour if they make it onshore and have been noted to produce waterspouts as well.

Now that is wacky, a waterspout enveloped in snow!!

[Hurricane Rex]

Thundersnow, anyone? That is pretty rare.

Now that is an event.  It's enough to make Cantore go nuts. 

Oh and the remix version of that I still listen to this day.

[webny99]

We've had an interesting roller coaster the past few weeks. We dropped below freezing before Christmas and didn't get above freezing until just a few days ago, accumulating over a foot of snow in that time.

Then a rapid warm-up with temps in the 50's on both Thursday and Friday, melting all but the largest snow piles and reminding us what grass looks like.

Now plummeting temperatures and 18 inches of snow last night, such that we went from a foot of snow, to no snow at all, to a fresh 18 inches all within 48 hours 

[webny99]

Significant bump here but I decided a refresh of this thread would make more sense than putting this in "Random Thoughts".

Is Rochester, NY the only major North American city that gets lake effect snow from two different lakes depending on wind direction? SW winds bring snow from Lake Erie while NW/N/NE winds bring snow from Lake Ontario.

Maybe London, ON, with Lake Erie and Lake Huron, but it seems like it would be pretty uncommon to get a due south wind that would bring them snow from Lake Erie. If it does happen it's probably one-off/isolated event, while in Rochester it can switch back and forth all winter at will.

[Rothman]

Makes you wonder why Syracuse gets more snow than Rochester on average, then.

[webny99]

Makes you wonder why Syracuse gets more snow than Rochester on average, then.

Because it's further east so more frequently in the path of lake effect snow coming off Lake Ontario, and that more than cancels out what the Rochester area gets from Lake Erie. You really need a N or NE wind for Rochester to get heavy bands. It happens (happened last night in fact) but it's just not as common.

[Flint1979]

Lake effect bands are often quite specific about where they hit.  Nothing unusual about that.

Of course. However, I have never seen that dramatic a difference between two places I frequent. So this is the first time I can offer anecdotal evidence to prove your statement true.

In my experience, Lake Erie is the most famous of the Great Lakes for producing narrow, intense bands. Lake Ontario snows tend to be more widespread, with more gradual changes in intensity and total accumulation. I find it is rare that only portions of the Rochester area get snow. Total accumulation may differ by an inch or two, but if it's snowing, it will almost always be area-wide. Buffalo, on the other hand, is famous for getting feet of snow in the Southtowns and no accumulation north of the city. Of course, I have no statistics to back this theory up, but I intend to stand by it anyways.

Because of the width of Lake Erie able to whip up storms and slam the eastern side of the lake like Buffalo. Houghton and Hancock are two cities that are prime examples of getting lake effect snow in the sum of over 250 inches of snow every year but those are on Lake Superior and that lake is one mean lake when it comes to whipping up a storm.

[Bobby5280]

When I was a kid (growing up a Marine Corps brat) I thought it was great whenever it snowed. It didn't happen very often in the places we had lived. Any snow that accumulated was gone quickly. Then my dad got sent to Syracuse to study photo-journalism at the university. My attitude about snow sure changed after living there.

The lake effect just kept adding more and more snow on an almost daily basis. Snow plows were running all the time. These big, ice hills would build up next to the streets and turn gray from all the road salt, mud, etc getting sprayed on them from passing vehicles. Upstate NY is beautiful in the Summer months. I don't like it in the winter. My brother and I played outside all the time with our friends. We would stay outdoors til frostbite was eating into our faces. It wasn't enough if our fingers and toes were going numb. I don't know how we put up with it. After Syracuse we moved to New Orleans and all its heat and humidity!

[Rothman]

Huh.  I just drove down to Ithaca and back and thought about how nice the countryside looks in winter with its white blanket.

[webny99]

Huh.  I just drove down to Ithaca and back and thought about how nice the countryside looks in winter with its white blanket.

Easier to appreciate after it's stopped coming down. 

[kphoger]

Thundersnow, anyone? That is pretty rare.

This winter was the first time I ever noticed hearing thunder during a snowstorm.

[Bobby5280]

We had thundersnow here in Lawton a few weeks ago. The phenomenon is not all that rare. I've seen it in New York City as well as upstate New York.