Lake Effect Snow

Lake Effect Snow is a phenomena that happens in only select regions of the world. Obviously, you need a big body of water, such as a lake, for it to occur. The right conditions need to be met in order for heavy snow to fall, which happened over a week ago on the lee side of Lake Superior in central Upper Michigan. Other notable record snow events have occurred in the past in cities like Sault Ste. Marie, MI; Grand Rapids, MI; and Buffalo, NY. In the winter time, the Great Lakes are known for producing epic amounts of snow. But you don't necessarily need a big lake for lake effect to occur. The Great Salt Lake in Utah is a relatively small lake in comparison to the Great Lakes; yet it has been known as an ample-enough body of water to produce lake effect snow in the right condition. Hudson Bay in Canada is a large body of water that can produce lake effect snows, but it freezes up rather quickly in the winter time, so there's only a small amount of time early in the season for lake effect to occur up there. There is also such a thing as ocean-effect snow, which can also occur under the right circumstances. Probably the most notable location in the United States where this occurs is on Cape Cod off the coast of Massachusetts. Ocean-effect snows at this location are far less frequent than lake effect on the Great Lakes, but it still does occur from time to time.

Over a week ago, one dominant lake effect snow band set up over Lake Superior between Marquette and Munising in Upper Michigan. This band barely moved, although it fluctuated a bit, moving slightly to the west or slightly to the east at times. Those locations under the band experienced snow rates of up to five or six inches of snow per hour. The winds were also strong, gusting as high as 35 mph at times. This caused a well-traveled section of roadway in the U.P. to be closed; highway M-28 between Munising and Harvey. It's not uncommon for this roadway to be closed during very extreme winter conditions. It basically rides along the Lake Superior coast for up to 40 miles. Strong North winds blowing across the lake can whip up the snow extremely easily, making visability extremely poor. Within two weeks during three separate snow events, M-28 has been closed.

My hometown where I grew up was located within that lake effect snow band two weekends ago. Although I wasn't there when this snow event occured, I heard a lot about the storm. Up to 35 inches of snow fell within 24-36 hours. It's not uncommon for us to pick up snow totals like that, but for it to fall in such a short amount of time like it did; that's incredible. And with the winds blowing the snow around all over the place, it's easy to see why M-28 was closed. The alternate route around the closed highway wasn't much better, from what I gathered. The road commission had its hands full trying to keep the roads somewhat passable, although it probably wasn't a smart thing to even be on the roads when this blizzard-type event hit. But sometimes lake effect is so unpredictable; it can pop up rather suddenly and the snow band can quickly change directions. It's one of the reasons why the weather in the Great Lakes is so changable.

Lake Effect snow off of Lake Superior in the winter time is something we've all grown accustomed to for those who live in the U.P. Sometimes I think what it would be like if we didn't have Lake Superior to our north. Yes, the snow is inconvenient in the winter time, but when it doesn't produce snow, it's a magical body of water. It's so picturesque and a beautiful location to just sit and watch the day go by. Yes, we'd definitely have less snow to deal with in the winter time, but I don't think that's enough to justify a huge loss we'd all have to endure without the big lake. I guess being without Lake Superior is one thing we don't have to worry about for a long time to come.