Weird Regional Weather

[RobS]

I'm sure we all have our weird weather, ours happens this time of year. We're in the Lake Effect Snow belt, areas on the leeward side of the great lakes. As long as the lakes aren't frozen, the air picks up moisture and dumps it as snow. This creates a couple of unique situations:

We can have sunshine and snow at the same time. The lake effect snow comes in bands (visible on radar). There could be no other clouds in the area so looking straight up you may have blue sky and sunshine but coming in at ground level from the west may be dark sky and snow squalls.

My other observation came from just now. My handy-dandy outdoor thermometer/weather predictor shows 1 degree and sunshine, meaning fair weather. This makes sense as the system has passed and the barometric pressure is rising. Most times, that means fair weather. Looking at the radar and the local weather predictions though, we're in for nearly a foot of snow tonight. Hardly fair weather, but it's that Lake Effect again.

So that's my unique, local weather pattern. What does everyone else live through?

 

[GarthH]

We are in Canada's prairies - north of the Dekotas. Too cold and too much snow. We went into the deep freeze in early December and still suffering with -40 degree weather. We have also being getting a few inches of snow almost every night (very odd for us). Last night I had to blow our 1/2 mile road in -30 degree weather. I was not impressed.

 

[EddieWalker]

Rob,

Never heard of that. Snow without clouds. That's just great, you can't count on anything anymore!!!! LOL

Eddie

 

[smfcpacfp]

Up here in the UP of Michigan we do have a variety of weather which is why I like it so much. When I talk to people about the weather, they often say, "Last (winter, summer, fall, spring) we really had some weird weather."

I began to think about that statement. I don't think that we have weird weather, I think the appropriate statement is that weather is terribly variable from one year to the next, so that there never really is a norm. It is often a surprise.

 

[scott_vt]

So that's my unique, local weather pattern. What does everyone else live through?

Good Evenin Rob,
Kathleen and I just finished watching the movie where NYC is under about 30 ft of snow, and looking at the thermometer Im thinking that the next ice age has just begun !

 

[dooleysm]

I had 5 on my outdoor thermometer this morning here in Southern Indiana. Pretty cold for us. My geothermal heat pump is still banging away though...hasn't switched to backup heat yet. They're calling for a low of -2 tonight, then a warmup starting tomorrow. I'll be overjoyed if the heat pump keeps up tonight without switching to backup heat. It usually takes a few days of these kinds of temps for it to get too cold 6 feet down. We'll be right on the edge of it I think.

We have only gotten a dusting of snow out of this system. Good for driving and getting around, but a modest layer of snow really insulates the ground well and keeps the geothermal working well.

 

[nmu98]

Up here in the UP of Michigan we do have a variety of weather which is why I like it so much. When I talk to people about the weather, they often say, "Last (winter, summer, fall, spring) we really had some weird weather."

I began to think about that statement. I don't think that we have weird weather, I think the appropriate statement is that weather is terribly variable from one year to the next, so that there never really is a norm. It is often a surprise.

I lived in Marquette for 4 years. In the winter, you never knew if you might be able to find your truck the next morning. We had dune flags on our receivers in one of the last years I was there. They had record snowfalls.... That was late 90's....

 

[polo1665]

I'm sure we all have our weird weather, ours happens this time of year. We're in the Lake Effect Snow belt, areas on the leeward side of the great lakes. As long as the lakes aren't frozen, the air picks up moisture and dumps it as snow. This creates a couple of unique situations:

We can have sunshine and snow at the same time. The lake effect snow comes in bands (visible on radar). There could be no other clouds in the area so looking straight up you may have blue sky and sunshine but coming in at ground level from the west may be dark sky and snow squalls.

My other observation came from just now. My handy-dandy outdoor thermometer/weather predictor shows 1 degree and sunshine, meaning fair weather. This makes sense as the system has passed and the barometric pressure is rising. Most times, that means fair weather. Looking at the radar and the local weather predictions though, we're in for nearly a foot of snow tonight. Hardly fair weather, but it's that Lake Effect again.

So that's my unique, local weather pattern. What does everyone else live through?

I pretty much grew up in North Muskegon, Michigan. I believe that is just a couple hours north of you. I can remember the weather we had there during the winters of the late 70's, the snow never seemed to stop.

I have lived in couple of towns in Ohio. The first was in the snow belt, east of Cleveland. Same lake effect situation there. Started snowing early in November and seemed like it snowed some every day throughout the winter. Now I live a little further south, just south of the southern edge of the snow belt. If the weather conditions are just right we can get a little lake effect snow. Unfortunately we are more inclined to get a smattering of cold rain or ice before, during , or after the snow fall. I really would much rather have some nice fluffy snow than that crap. The last couple years we have had more snow here than in previous years. Right now we have about 6" to 8" on the ground and it is about 3 degrees outside. All in all a good day to hunker down in the heated workshop and dream up some project to keep you warm.

 

[Runner]

Kansas City being in the middle of the country gets a sampling of pretty much all the weather seen around the US (except for local variations like lake effect snow, etc.). Cold winters, hot summers pleasant fall and spring. Fortunately, not nearly the extremes of temp seen in the north or southwest.

I would say the local extreme weather comes in winter and summer. In winter, we are frequently on the dividing line between snow/ice and rain. This can lead to some horrific ice storms, with dangerous driving and lots of tree damage (glad I now have a chipper).

We are in the northeastern corner of "tornado alley" and so we get severe thunderstorms and occasional tornadoes in the spring/summer/fall. These events are isolated enough that we are not quite as worried about them as those to our southwest, deeper into tornado alley. Nevertheless, they can happen in any month of the year at any location, so you do need to keep an eye on the sky when the conditions are right.

I always thought it would be neat to live somewhere that had lake effect snow, mainly because I like plowing snow and driving in it, but I'd imagine the novelty would wear off after awhile....

 

[actionaj]

It got down to 4 this morning with a wind chill of -16 in Southern IL. It is supposed to be colder tonight. We haven't had any snow this winter just a little bit of freezing rain and ice. I think they fixed the global warming (myth) problem so I guess they will have to dream up something new.