Several districts of the state of New York (USA) were buried for several days by what is known as a “lake effect” snowfall. A phenomenon that, although it is always impressive to see, is very widespread in this area of the North American country.
Oswego, Buffalo, Hamburg, New York, Williamsville are some of the areas that have seen the most snow.
It happened not only in the state of New York, but also in others such as Pennsylvania and even in the Canadian province of Ontario, which borders the named US regions.
What is a “lake effect” snowfall and why does it occur?
The one known as “lake effect» occurs when a very cold air mass moves on a water body more hot. The air in the lower layers is “warmer”, absorbing heat and moisture from the water.
having high thermal contrastthe warmer air mass rises forming clouds which leave precipitation on the coast towards which the wind blows (which determines the path and formation of the clouds due to the lake effect).
the oldest is the thermal contrast between the body of water and the cold air, more intense it will be there rain.
This phenomenon Not only Yes, yes above the lakes, as it can also occur over oceans. In SpainFor example, it can occur in Cantabrian coast when there are very cold air intakes from the north-northeast, being able to leave some snowfall.
In European Unionthe states that make up the region which is known as the “Great Lakes” (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario) usually experience this type of episode, which stops every year average more than 5 meter of snow.
