Do small lakes affect weather?

Even some of the smallest lakes can create hazards downwind. The snow forms as chilly winds mainly from the west or northwest flow over the relatively warmer waters of the lakes and gather moisture, allowing clouds and bands of lake-effect snow to develop.



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During the summer the lake absorbs energy, but the land reradiates energy to the atmosphere. Therefore, air over land is warmer than that over the water. In the winter the energy absorbed by the lake water is gradually released to the atmosphere, making the air over the water warmer than that over the land.

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Its relatively warm water (warm compared with colder wintertime air temperatures) keeps temperatures over the lake and at the lakefront higher than inland readings. In the summer, however, lake water temperatures are usually cooler than inland air temperatures, and daytime readings at the lakefront will be lower.

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The thunderstorm is powered by the updraft which takes in warm and moist air – this is the fuel for a storm. When the storm encounters a large body of water like an ocean or the Great Lakes, they take in cooler air which can weaken the updraft and dissipate the storm.

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During the early morning hours, the land and the water start out at roughly the same temperature. On a calm morning, a given pressure surface will be at the same height above both the land and water. A few hours later, the sun's energy begins to warm the land more rapidly than the water.

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