View of lake-effect snow shows why Michigan is unlike anywhere in the world

[MiHale]

https://www.mlive.com/weather/2023/11/eye-candy-view-of-lake-effect-snow-shows-why-michigan-is-unlike-anywhere-in-the-world.html

Lake-effect snow has been impacting Michigan for the past few days, and some snow showers are still sticking around in portions of the state. On satellite, the snow has a signature look, though different conditions can cause lake-effect snow showers and clouds to form differently.

In the current satellite loop, the lake-effect snow showers impacting the southwestern and northern portions of Lower Michigan can easily be seen. Bands of snow showers moving to the southeast are currently ongoing and will lead to further accumulations in parts of the state. There’s more to the image than being able to pick out snow showers, as well as some lake-effect clouds that aren’t producing any precipitation.

The movement of the lake-effect bands depends on the wind direction at different levels in the atmosphere. As of right now, winds are coming from the west-northwest just above the surface, driving the lake-effect towards the southeast. If the winds shift, so will the lake-effect.

Satellite imagery at link.

[multigraincracker]

1. We get from both the West and East winds.

From the West it’s off Lake Michigan and from the East it’s off the Bay and Lake Huron.
I just got back in from 1 1/2 mile walk in the cold and wind. You only hate the weather if you don’t go out and enjoy it.

[MiHale]

2. It's all about the gear...

Dress for the elements not style.

Howdy, mgc everything going good?

[SergeStorms]

3. It's hardly, "unlike anywhere in the world".

It happens in every state bordering the Great Lakes.
We're on the south shore of Lake Ontario, and lake effect bands of snow can last for days. It's even worse on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. They measure their lake effect snow in feet, not inches.
I think the author of that article meant, or should have meant, any body of land on the downwind side of an open body of water during frigid winter storms.
Michigan is hardly the only place on earth where this happens.

[llmart]

9. As someone who grew up in a little town right on Lake Erie...

I can attest to the fact that lake effect snow storms are just as brutal there as they are in parts of Michigan. I've lived in both states.

[mopinko]

4. i see this weather pattern all summer too.

i watch all the time as much needed rain here on the w coast of the lake gets sucked right past me.
it can b a huge storm out on the plains, but when it hits that heavy lake air, it just shreds. i’ve had tornados pass over and not get my sidewalk wet.
le sigh. at least it saves in snow shoveling.

[AllaN01Bear]

5. the great white hurricane of 1913

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes_Storm_of_1913
love the sat loop of that. wow .

[canuckledragger]

8. Those storms can cause a bit of trouble on the northern side of Lake Ontario too.

In my very early teens my family and I lived in a town called Cardinal, Ontario, and it had the remnants of a very old canal and dock system, leading to having a very long and narrow peninsula on the southern side of town, which can be seen from the public school I went to a the time.

The thing with storms that form or cross over big bodies of water like that, is that there's nothing to break them up along the way so the winds can get pretty strong. I remember watching from the back entrance of the public school waves crashing right over the whole of parts of that peninsula into the canal. I also remember leaning over a small drop of the concrete block in front of that back entrance, and having the wind hold me up during some of those storms.

[Marcuse]

6. Buffalo is the world's largest city located downwind of an open body of water during frigid weather.

I believe.

[pansypoo53219]

7. i am lucky to be on the SE side of lake mich. we only get lake effect snow w/ E winds.

but we did get that 4 in in may years ago.