please explain what lake effect snow means?

Answer 1

Cold air crosses water that is warmer than the air is.Condensation occurs.Snow falls like rain would but the ground temp is cold enough to turn it to snow.Heaviness depends on wind direction and how much water it has to cross.The more water it gets fed from the harder it snows.Lake effect snow doesnt stop until the lake is frozen over.If there is open water, it has moisture to collect from.I live in the Buffalo area.it can also differ from one spot.One side of the street can snow but the other side cannot.It is hard to pinpoint where it will fall.A small difference in wind direction can totally change where and what county it will fall.It is also not assured.They can say it will snow in Buffalo but in truth 5 miles, or a few hundred feet can be affected.Hope this helps.You have to go by where the wind is blowing.I live south of Lake Ontario.If the winds were north, say, it would have all that area to dump on the southern shore.

Answer 2

It's a very localized condition. Cold air, say from Canada, blows over large bodies oof open water. The water is warmer than the surrounding land (hence it's unfrozen) and the wind picks up the increased moisture over this water, blows it inland, where it condenses and falls as snow, usually a lot of it. The more open water the wind has to pick up the moisture, the heavier the snow. When and if the water freezes completely over, then this snow machine is turned off. BTW, the length of the open body of water is called "fetch". Think of a wind blowing from the north down Lake Michigan in the US. It has a lot more surface area to pick up the moisture than if it was blowing west to east on the same lake.

Answer 3

Lake effect snow is increased snowfall due to air masses moving over large bodies of open water -- hence picking up more moisture than they would have elsewhere. Buffalo, NY is noted for large lake effect snow accumulations because of added moisture picked up as storms cross move eastward over Lake Erie. Generally the effect is greater at the east end of Lake Ontario (in Kingston,ON and Oswego, NY) because Lake Ontario (the deepest Great Lake) rarely freezes over, while Lake Erie (the shallowest Great Lake) almost always freezes, retarding the collection of added moisture.

Answer 4

Cold air moves over the warmer lake waters, causing the evaporating moisture from the lake to condense into clouds, which in turn, condense and freeze into snow. The wind blows these clouds and precipitation over the land, where the snow dumps.

Answer 5

Move to Chicago. We just got hit with 7 inches of lake effect snow.

Answer 6

Yes, moisture rising above the warmer lake through evaporation. The moisture is moved with the jet stream currents and freezes and snows down wind current from the lake.

Answer 7

It happens when lakes are huge such as the Great Lakes. The atmosphere gets a lot of moisture from the lakes and then it starts snowing.

Answer 8

Basically it's snow that occurs when cold but it is not actually "snowing." Water is freezing into snow on a lake and wind is blowing it toward land.

Answer 9

That means when there's a lake and its so cold atht the water freezes up and starts blowing everywhere in all directions.

Answer 10

Water is warm and evaporates. It rises as it sweeps over land and condenses and cools. Areas near the shoreline get hammered with snow.