Climate change, aka Global Warming, does some interesting things! While we have just come out of a cold snap in Colorado, the bitter cold air has shifted to the Great Lakes. The result has been some really big snows near the shores of the Great Lakes. These Lake Effect snows are caused when very cold air flows over the still relatively warm waters of the lakes. The cold air is quickly saturated with low level moisture that is deposited on areas downwind along the shore and inland for several miles. The It may seem counter-intuitive, but as our climate warms, we may see an increase in these snow events as our global climate continues to warm from the increase in greenhouse gases. Here is a nice description from the folks at Climate Central. The Arctic cold that blasted the country last week also got the lake-effect machine cranking — producing over 2 feet of snow in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. This week’s even colder air is creating another round of lake-effect snow, dumping a few feet near Buffalo, N.Y., while areas just a few miles away will see little more than a few inches. That’s the way it goes with lake-effect snow. And if you live in one of the snow-belt locations of the Great Lakes, you’re all too familiar. These bodies of water are a huge moisture source — especially this time of year, when the water is still relatively warm from a summer of heating. When cold air blows across the Lakes, moisture is picked up and forms narrow bands that can turn into enormous volumes of heavy snow when they are dumped downwind. It is reasonable to wonder how lake-effect snow has changed as the U.S., along with the world as a whole, has warmed. And the answer, based on records from 17 weather stations located downwind of the Great Lakes, is that snowfall amounts have increased since 1930. One key reason may be that ice coverage on the Lakes has diminished, on average. According to the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, Great Lake ice coverage since 1973 has been trending downward. Of course, there can be a big variation from one year to the next. For example, last year’s ice coverage was nearly as high as it has ever been during the 1973-2014 period. However, the year before, it was at a near-record low. The less ice covering the Lakes, the more open water surface there is for evaporation to happen. So a downward trend in ice cover and an upward trend in lake-effect snow go hand in hand. Sorry, Buffalo...
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 01:03:35 +0000
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