Snow fell from the sky for three days straight.
The cold winds that blew the length of Lake Erie started a disaster that would damage hundreds of homes and businesses, shut down entire cities for days on end, and even force mothers-to-be to the fire station because there was none. cars could take him to the hospital.
Heavy snow on the ocean rolled into western New York on November 17th, 2014. This steady wind was heavy with rain, creating whiteouts that would not end until the 19th.
That days-long snowstorm produced up to 165 inches of snow near Buffalo, New York, burying some homes to their second floors and shutting down the area for days.
PODCAST: The emergency situation was called for the Great Buffalo Blizzard of 2014
Western New York’s lake ice disaster underscored one truth of living near lakes in the winter: snow drifts are nothing to sneeze at.
Lake-effect snow and summer thunderstorms are relatives
Lake-effect snow brings its own characteristics because it is born from the same process that creates large thunderstorms on wet summer afternoons.
lake effect snow ingredients
Snow blowing from lakes is a product of convection. We experience more sea ice during the fall and early winter months because there is a sharp temperature difference between the surface of the lakes and the cold air that blows over the water.
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Some of that air comes into direct contact with warm water, heating the shallow air like a camper holding their hands to a fire to keep warm. This air is warmer than its surroundings, causing it to begin rising into the atmosphere.
The large difference between the temperature of the lake and the surface air will cause the air to rise more quickly, giving rise to the formation of ice similar to the thunderstorms we had on a hot July day.
WATCH: How snow forms over a warm lake
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It’s a dangerous game to take
If you can’t stand the cold, you don’t want to make the acquisition happen.
To take a windward distance over open water. The long duration means that the air spends more time and travels a greater distance over the water, an important factor in the formation of snow that causes oceans.
Dry air blowing off the water organizes these ice sheets into bands, blowing them over the beach and bringing us the lake-effect cycle that is so popular during the holiday season.
Meteorologists closely monitor wind direction to determine where snow will be deposited and how much it will grow.
Short hauls lead to many but narrow winters that can cover a large area with a moderate blanket of accumulation. Longer exposures, on the other hand, lead to single, thick ice belts.
The Great Lakes are king, but they are a widespread problem
The size, depth, and location of the Great Lakes make this region a prime location for lake-effect snow, but this phenomenon is possible in Canada and around the world.
lake effect snow belt
Lake-effect snow is common in southern Manitoba during early fall before the lakes freeze. Snow caused by the sea – formed in the same way, above the sea in that place – is always seen throughout the cold season in the Atlantic regions.
We even see sea and ocean snow all over the world. Sapporo, Japan, is one of the snowiest cities in the world due to the sea ice that buries the city of 2 million people with meter after meter of powder each season.
Prevailing winds make some areas of the Great Lakes more prone to blockbuster winter events than others. Northwesterly winds blow across Lake Huron and Georgian Bay leaving communities like Kincardine, Goderich, and Barrie open to heavy bands of snow.
Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are notorious for their fire-like ice belts in the Niagara region, eastern Ontario, and western New York because southwesterly winds take a long distance in the length of these lakes, feeding the most intense ice belts. it can last for days.
WATCH: Why ice breaks is hard to predict
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Great fear meets the edge of the knife
These snow belts can produce some of the worst snow conditions you’ll ever experience on earth, similar to high winds in winter.
Very strong events in the lake can produce snowfall rates of more than 10 inches of snow per hour, overwhelming the ability of plows to keep roads clear for more than a few minutes at a time. Convection strong enough to produce this type of snowfall often leads to bright lightning and large thunderstorms.
(NY State Police / Facebook) Snow covers the road in Buffalo November 2014
Several feet of snow covers the New York State Thruway near Buffalo, New York, during a snowstorm in November 2014. (New York State Police / Facebook)
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What’s scarier than hours-long thunderstorms and frequent thunderstorms is the fact that these teams can be difficult to predict.
Snowfalls are often so thin that several kilometers mean the difference between a snowy winter and a nighttime disaster that shuts down entire communities for days at a time.
Just a small change in the wind direction or a small vibration in the band itself can change the mammoth snow pack along with it. The snowdrifts that fell south of Buffalo in 2014 could have hit the center of the city itself if the band had swung a few miles farther north.
Thumbnail image courtesy of Pixabay.