Snowsqualls
Well, here it is 10 am Thursday morning and it is still snowing, although not as heavy as it has been. The expected high on Saturday will be-2, Sunday +7 and then Monday +14 with rain. So what does that mean?
It means that between now and January there will be at least one more significant snowfall. Why? This is why.
London is located 50 miles from the southern tip of Lake Huron and 40 miles from the north shore of Lake Erie. The snowbelt is roughly 30 to 40 miles north of London. But why there? Why not 100 miles north of here or 100 miles south? The answer is because of two significant facts: The Great Lakes and the jet stream.
The actual effect is this. Cold dry air comes out of the north and traverses south. When that cold dry air blows over warm Lake Superior or warm Lake Huron, the air at water level becomes warmed by the warmer water. The warmer moist air rises into the frigid cold air and becomes snow.
These snowsqualls, or streamers as they are commonly referred to, carry huge amounts of snow. A lot of times they miss London. A lot of times they come to London. When that happens, that sets the stage for London to get huge amounts of snow. There is a third significant reason why. London, Ontario is at the bottom of a prehistoric lake, we are at the bottom of a bowl. When these snow streamers come to London, quite often they stall in the bowl. Then they sit overhead sometimes for days at a time dumping lots of snow.
That is why during the winter of 2003 - 2004 for three consecutive nights the snowfall was in excess of 12" per night. That doesn't include the 8 - 10'' of snow 2 - 4 nights before or after.
London doesn't get huge amounts of snow every year, but the majority of time it does. That is why you can drive 125 miles from here to Detroit/Windsor and they have nothing and London is buried in the stuff.
So who else gets that kind of snow? Buffalo, New York/Fort Erie, On. The Buffalo area doesn't get the same that we get, they get tons more. I'm not exactly sure why, but I suspect that it is because Buffalo is at the convergence of two huge snow producers - Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, and they're not all that far from Huron either. Some times in a 2 or three day period, Buffalo gets 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 feet of snow, or more.
Anyway, this morning when I got up it was snowing heavily again. It is spectacular when that happens, the beauty, the quietness and freshness. So it was out the door to walk along the river and make my way uptown to see how the city was coping. The city was coping slowly.
It means that between now and January there will be at least one more significant snowfall. Why? This is why.
London is located 50 miles from the southern tip of Lake Huron and 40 miles from the north shore of Lake Erie. The snowbelt is roughly 30 to 40 miles north of London. But why there? Why not 100 miles north of here or 100 miles south? The answer is because of two significant facts: The Great Lakes and the jet stream.
The actual effect is this. Cold dry air comes out of the north and traverses south. When that cold dry air blows over warm Lake Superior or warm Lake Huron, the air at water level becomes warmed by the warmer water. The warmer moist air rises into the frigid cold air and becomes snow.
These snowsqualls, or streamers as they are commonly referred to, carry huge amounts of snow. A lot of times they miss London. A lot of times they come to London. When that happens, that sets the stage for London to get huge amounts of snow. There is a third significant reason why. London, Ontario is at the bottom of a prehistoric lake, we are at the bottom of a bowl. When these snow streamers come to London, quite often they stall in the bowl. Then they sit overhead sometimes for days at a time dumping lots of snow.
That is why during the winter of 2003 - 2004 for three consecutive nights the snowfall was in excess of 12" per night. That doesn't include the 8 - 10'' of snow 2 - 4 nights before or after.
London doesn't get huge amounts of snow every year, but the majority of time it does. That is why you can drive 125 miles from here to Detroit/Windsor and they have nothing and London is buried in the stuff.
So who else gets that kind of snow? Buffalo, New York/Fort Erie, On. The Buffalo area doesn't get the same that we get, they get tons more. I'm not exactly sure why, but I suspect that it is because Buffalo is at the convergence of two huge snow producers - Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, and they're not all that far from Huron either. Some times in a 2 or three day period, Buffalo gets 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 feet of snow, or more.
Anyway, this morning when I got up it was snowing heavily again. It is spectacular when that happens, the beauty, the quietness and freshness. So it was out the door to walk along the river and make my way uptown to see how the city was coping. The city was coping slowly.
posted by Mike at 9:59 a.m.
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