What lakes have lake-effect snow?

Lake Erie is the only lake that routinely freezes each winter, and once it does, lake effect snow seldom occurs. In the U.S. lake effect snow commonly occurs across northern Wisconsin, western Michigan, northwestern New York, northwestern Pennsylvania and the Great Salt Lake in Utah.



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The region most commonly affected spans from Port Stanley in the west, the Bruce Peninsula in the north, Niagara-on-the-Lake to the east, and Fort Erie to the south. The heaviest accumulations usually happen in the Bruce Peninsula, which is between Lake Huron and Georgian Bay.

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Lake Erie is the only lake that routinely freezes each winter, and once it does, lake effect snow seldom occurs. In the U.S. lake effect snow commonly occurs across northern Wisconsin, western Michigan, northwestern New York, northwestern Pennsylvania and the Great Salt Lake in Utah.

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Anywhere! Lake effect snow can occur over any unfrozen body of water where the fetch is long enough to gather enough moisture to create snow. Lake effect snow can occur over Lake Tahoe, the Great Salt Lake, the finger lakes, and even has been reported over rivers in the Midwest!

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Lake Superior has the greatest impact on local snowfall amounts with 100% more winter precipitation falling downwind compared to Lakes Erie and Ontario that only have precipitation increases of 15% from the lake-effects.

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Lake-effect snow forms when dry, freezing air picks up moisture and heat as it moves along warmer lake water. This causes some of the lake water to evaporate into the air, causing the air to be warmer and wetter.

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Luckily for people living near large lakes, lake effect snow generally slows down around February. That's when the lakes freeze over, making it impossible for the air to steal moisture away from the lake.

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Lake effect snow is common across the Great Lakes region during the late fall and winter. Lake Effect snow occurs when cold air, often originating from Canada, moves across the open waters of the Great Lakes.

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In the Northland, the most common location for the lake snow to come onto land, is along the southern shore of Lake Superior across northern Wisconsin and upper Michigan. This region is also referred to as the Snowbelt.

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Places near the shoreline can receive lake-effect snow, but because the state lies north and west of the lake, snowfall amounts are not nearly as large as they are in locations like Wisconsin and Michigan that lie downwind to the south. Even so, the single largest snowstorm in Minnesota history was a lake effect event.

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