Why doesnt lake-effect snow fall to the north or west of the Great Lakes?

Lake-effect snow generally doesn't fall over the water because it needs the friction and topography of the land to bring out the snow. Winds usually blow west to east in the Northern Hemisphere, so the lake-enhanced snow is pushed to the eastern side of the Great Lakes, Miller said.



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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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  • Western Michigan, Northwestern Lower Michigan, and Northern Indiana can experience heavy lake-effect snow. ...
  • The region east and southeast of Lake Ontario frequently sees daily snowfall totals that are higher than anywhere in the United States.


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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-effect snow is a frequent contributor to our seasonal snowfall in Chicago and with Lake Michigan almost ice free, the lake-effect snow machine is open for business provided a cold wind is blowing in our favor in the right direction. Nearly 93% of the Great Lakes does not have significant ice cover.

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The heaviest lake-effect snow in the United States falls on the Tug Hill Plateau, south of Watertown, N.Y., at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, making this region one of the snowiest places in the United States. Syracuse, which is south of Tug Hill, is one of the snowiest bigger cities in the United States.

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The fetch is important in that a longer fetch will provide more fuel, or water vapor, for the development of heavier lake effect snow. For example, a north wind will produce a narrow band of very heavy snow to the south of Lake Michigan, while a (cold) west wind will produce multiple weaker bands to the east.

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Lake-effect snow can form on small lakes just as it does in the Great Lakes. Salt Lake City, Fort Worth and Carson City, Nevada have all had bouts of snow from lakes. Inland lake-effect and ocean-effect doesn't just occur in the United States.

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Lake temperatures are largely driven by interactions with the atmosphere, so colder air temperatures lead to colder lake temperatures, according to the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL).

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