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OT: 53 Miles Of Ice


Perfessor

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What's the difference between lake effect snow and normal snow?


I live in North Australia, so we don't get any snow.

 

 

I don't know the terminology... but... Lake Effect snow happens when a snow storm crosses an unfrozen lake. Since the lake water is generally warmer than the air in these instances, it creates a weird weather system in the atmosphere above the water.

 

Firstly, snow/rain storms happen when clouds get so dense that they need to start dropping their mass. So the excess moisture just adds to the storm. Secondly, snow is just frozen water. Since winter air is typically very dry, snow is usually light and fluffy. The higher air temperature above an unfrozen lake not only adds more moisture to the storm, it lowers the tempurature just enough to turn the snow into thick, heavey, partially frozen {censored} that is basically a slush after enouh of it has accumulated on the ground.

 

And it's a pain to walk in, drive in, and shovel or snow-blow.

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Lake effect snow occurs when the winds blow across the lake and pick up moisture. The cold air picks up the heat and moisture from the warm (relatively speaking) lakes. This air then rises and snow forms and falls over land.

 

Once the lakes are frozen, the wind blowing across them can't pick up moisture any more.

 

I could go on (and on and on...)if anbody is interested. I've been learning about this since October.

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Interesting that Superior is the world's largest freshwater lake by area, but only 3rd by volume - Lake Baikal in Russia is nearly twice as large by volume as Superior.

 

They're all dwarfed by the Caspian Sea, but I really don't think it's fair to consider that a lake, it's salt seawater, and though isolated now, it has often throughout history been directly connected to open ocean.

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About 10 feet apparently.

 

That's the most practical answer... :thu:

 

Luckly we haven't gotten that much off of Lake Erie. Lanke Ontario is the culprit for the 10+ feet of snow.

 

The plus side is that the lake keeps the temperatures from fluctuating as much as they do inland.

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Grew up in Erie, PA, on Lake Erie. If I recall right, about once evert 2 years, someone would try walking across from Erie to Longpoint or vice-versa, because it's the narrowest there. 27 miles if I remember right.

 

Oh, yeah, ice fishing IS considered a valid sport there. And some years, ice boats sail all over the bay.

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Lake baikal is the singlemost biggest source of freshwater in the world... And it's 2 km deep!

 

Baikal gives up her dead though...Superior? Now she's a greedy lady...;)

 

 

 

 

 

It's actually because of the cold temps in Superior year round (oh lordy is that lake cold). The cold prevents bacteria from growing, and no bacteria eating a body = no gasses to make it float after becoming waterlogged.

 

And 7m waves are nothing to sneeze at :D

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