The Influence of a Lake-to-Lake Connection from Lake Huron on the Lake-Effect Snowfall in the Vicinity of Lake Ontario

Lang, Carrie E.; McDonald, Jessica; Gaudet, Lauriana C.; Doeblin, Dylan; Jones, Erin A.; Laird, Neil F.

doi:10.1175/jamc-d-17-0225.1

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 48 publications

(67 reference statements)

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“…Located east of Lake Ontario, Central New York is one of the snowiest regions of the Great Lakes basin. Its leeward position to Lake Ontario is not only favourable for the occurrence of lake‐effect snow, but the formation of multi‐lake snowbands from Lake Huron and to a lesser extent Lakes Michigan, Superior, and Erie (Mann et al ., 2002; Rodriguez et al ., 2007; Laird et al ., 2017; Kristovich et al ., 2018; Lang et al ., 2018). Lake‐effect snow is also common in this region due to Lake Ontario's relatively low annual ice cover (Assel, 2003; Wang et al ., 2012) and its east‐west axis orientation favouring a longer fetch (Niziol, 1987).…”

Section: Methods and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A classification scheme for identifying snowstorms affecting central New York State

Hartnett

2020

Intl Journal of Climatology

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The Great Lakes region experiences anomalously high seasonal snowfall totals relative to similar latitudes. Although lake‐effect snowstorms are common in this region, snowfall occurs from a variety of storm types. This study examines snowstorms in a subsection of the Lake Ontario basin to develop a classification scheme to categorize the different types of snowstorms affecting the region. From 1985 to 2015, there were 11 different snowstorm types to affect the study area. The classification system was used to assess the frequency of, and snowfall produced by the different storm types within the eastern Great Lakes region. From the classification, snowstorms were categorized as either non‐direct cyclonic storms (NDCS) or direct cyclonic storms (DCS). Lake‐effect snowstorms, a type of NDCS, were the most frequent storm (35.1% of all storms) and accounted for approximately 39.4% of the snowfall. Most lake‐effect storms (37.7%) produced moderate snowfall totals (10.2–25.3 cm), yet heavy snowfall storms (≥25.4 cm) contributed significantly (ρ ≤ .05) more to seasonal snowfall totals than lighter snowfall storms. Direct cyclonic clippers forming over high latitudes of northwestern Canada, were the most frequent DCS in Central New York (11.3% of all storms), with nearly three quarters of the storms originating over Alberta. These storms only contributed 9.2% of the seasonal snowfall in the study area, compared to 12.7% from direct cyclonic Nor'easters forming near the east coast of North America. Although Nor'easters occur less frequently than clippers, when they do occur, they tend to produce heavy widespread snowfall across the region. The classification system proposed can be modified to accommodate snow basins across the globe. Classifying snowstorms will help determine the seasonal snowfall contribution from different storms and aid in future climate predictions, as individual snowstorm types may respond differently to a warming global climate.

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Section: Methods and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A classification scheme for identifying snowstorms affecting central New York State

Hartnett

2020

Intl Journal of Climatology

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“…A much smaller fraction (28 percent) of western lake lake-effect days are coincident with lake-effect days on the eastern lakes (Table 3), but this is influenced by fact that there are 30 percent more lake-effect days for the western lakes than for the eastern lakes. This could also represent the known lake-to-lake influence of the western lakes on the eastern lakes (e.g., Kristovich et al 2018;Lang et al 2018). For both eastern and western lakes, a greater proportion of midseason lake-effect days are coincident between the two lakes than are lake-effect days early and late in the season (Table 3).…”

Section: Lake Effect Frequencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in the Frequency of Cool Season Lake Effects within the North American Great Lakes Region

Ellis

Marston

Bahret

2020

Annals of the American Association of Geographers

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The North American Great Lakes influence surface weather downwind, distinctly in winter when southward migrating cold air passes over relatively warm lakes. Study of the synoptic atmospheric patterns favorable for lake effects has focused on lake-effect snowfall, the most impactful effect of the lakes. Although the patterns are conducive to lake effects, they might not actually yield discernible modification of downwind surface weather. This study uses historical daily data (1964-1965 through 2017-2018) of weather types to detect cool season (November-April) modification of cold, dry air upwind of the Great Lakes to cool, moist air downwind of the eastern (Erie, Ontario) and western (Michigan, Superior) lakes. A spatial arrangement of weather types across the region is shown to identify individual days characterized by a lake effect. The frequency of lake effects increased through the first one third of the record, but it has since decreased, most profoundly since a change point in the late 1990s and more prominently for the eastern lakes. At stations immediately downwind of the lakes, the result is a changed cool season hydroclimate, with fifty-four-year declines in lake-effect precipitation amount and frequency and in the percentages of seasonal precipitation amount and frequency attributed to lake effects.

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“…These data are available for only the continental United States for most of the archive, therefore our analyses and investigation focused on Lakes Erie, Michigan, and Ontario-Great Lakes with extensive shoreline regions within the continental United States. SNODAS snowfall data have been used for several past LES snowfall studies (e.g., Veals and Steenburgh, 2015;Lang et al, 2018) and are archived as liquid water equivalent (LWE) amounts. Total LWE daily snowfall for LES days and non-LES days, as well as summed across each cold season, were used to determine the contribution to the total cold-season snowfall in areas surrounding Lakes Erie, Michigan, and Ontario.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This suggests that on Lake Ontario LES days, there were favorable atmospheric and lake conditions supportive of LES systems across a widespread portion of the eastern Great Lakes region. When conditions are supportive of LES over a large area, LES snow bands can develop on an upwind lake, extend over the intervening land area, and continue their development over a downwind lake (e.g., Rodriguez et al, 2007;Laird et al, 2017;Kristovich et al, 2018;Lang et al, 2018).…”

Section: Lake Ontariomentioning

confidence: 99%

The Contribution of Lake-Effect Snow to Annual Snowfall Totals in the Vicinity of Lakes Erie, Michigan, and Ontario

2022

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In the Great Lakes region, total cold-season snowfall consists of contributions from both lake-effect systems (LES) and non-LES snow events. To enhance understanding of the regional hydroclimatology, this research examined these separate contributions with a focus on the cold seasons (October–March) of 2009/2010, a time period with the number of LES days substantially less than the mean, and 2012/2013, a time period with the number of LES days notably greater than the mean, for the regions surrounding Lakes Erie, Michigan, and Ontario. In general, LES snowfall exhibited a maximum contribution in near-shoreline areas surrounding each lake while non-LES snowfall tended to provide a more widespread distribution throughout the entire study regions with maxima often located in regions of elevated terrain. The percent contribution for LES snowfall to the seasonal snowfall varied spatially near each lake with localized maxima and ranged in magnitudes from 10% to over 70%. Although total LES snowfall amounts tended to be greater during the cold season with the larger number of LES days, the percent of LES snowfall contributing to the total cold-season snowfall was not directly dependent on the number of LES days. The LES snowfall contributions to seasonal totals were found to be generally larger for Lakes Erie and Ontario during the cold season with a greater number of LES days; however, LES contributions were similar or smaller for areas in the vicinity of Lake Michigan during the cold season with a smaller number of LES days.

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The Influence of a Lake-to-Lake Connection from Lake Huron on the Lake-Effect Snowfall in the Vicinity of Lake Ontario

Cited by 15 publications

References 48 publications

A classification scheme for identifying snowstorms affecting central New York State

A classification scheme for identifying snowstorms affecting central New York State

Changes in the Frequency of Cool Season Lake Effects within the North American Great Lakes Region

The Contribution of Lake-Effect Snow to Annual Snowfall Totals in the Vicinity of Lakes Erie, Michigan, and Ontario

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