Lake-effect rainfall over Africa’s great lakes and other lakes in the rift valleys

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon E. Nicholson
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Lake Effect ◽  
Rift Valleys

scholarly journals Lake-to-Lake Cloud Bands: Frequencies and Locations

2007 ◽  
Vol 135 (12) ◽  
pp. 4202-4213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yarice Rodriguez ◽  
David A. R. Kristovich ◽  
Mark R. Hjelmfelt
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Satellite Imagery ◽  
Lake Superior ◽  
Great Lakes Region ◽  
Lake Effect ◽  
Time Period ◽  
High Resolution Satellite Imagery

Abstract Premodification of the atmosphere by upwind lakes is known to influence lake-effect snowstorm intensity and locations over downwind lakes. This study highlights perhaps the most visible manifestation of the link between convection over two or more of the Great Lakes lake-to-lake (L2L) cloud bands. Emphasis is placed on L2L cloud bands observed in high-resolution satellite imagery on 2 December 2003. These L2L cloud bands developed over Lake Superior and were modified as they passed over Lakes Michigan and Erie and intervening land areas. This event is put into a longer-term context through documentation of the frequency with which lake-effect and, particularly, L2L cloud bands occurred over a 5-yr time period over different areas of the Great Lakes region.

scholarly journals Climatology of cold season lake-effect cloud bands for the North American Great Lakes

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 2111-2121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil F. Laird ◽  
Nicholas D. Metz ◽  
Lauriana Gaudet ◽  
Coltin Grasmick ◽  
Lindsey Higgins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
North American ◽  
Cold Season ◽  
The North ◽  
Lake Effect ◽  
North American Great Lakes

scholarly journals Heavy Lake-Effect Snowfall Changes and Mechanisms for the Laurentian Great Lakes Region

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1577
Author(s):  
Oleksandr Huziy ◽  
Bernardo Teufel ◽  
Laxmi Sushama ◽  
Ram Yerubandi
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Laurentian Great Lakes ◽  
Lake Ice ◽  
Cold Air ◽  
Lake Effect ◽  
Projected Changes ◽  
Climate Analysis ◽  
Precipitation Ratio

Heavy lake-effect snowfall (HLES) events are snowfall events enhanced by interactions between lakes and overlying cold air. Significant snowfall rates and accumulations caused during such events disrupt socioeconomic activities and sometimes lead to lethal consequences. The aim of this study is to assess projected changes to HLES by the end of the century (2079–2100) using a regional climate model for the first time with 3D representation for the Laurentian Great Lakes. When compared to observations over the 1989–2010 period, the model is able to realistically reproduce key mechanisms and characteristics of HLES events, thus increasing confidence in future projections. Projected changes to the frequency and amount of HLES suggest decreasing patterns, during the onset, active and decline phases of HLES. Despite reduced lake ice cover that will allow enhanced lake–atmosphere interactions favouring HLES, the warmer temperatures and associated increase in liquid to solid precipitation ratio along with reduced cold air outbreaks contribute to reduced HLES in the future climate. Analysis of the correlation patterns for current and future climates further supports the weaker impact of lake ice fraction on HLES in future climates. Albeit the decreases in HLES frequency and intensity and projected increases in extreme snowfall events (resulting from all mechanisms) raise concerns for impacts on the transportation, infrastructure and hydropower sectors in the region.

The role of a tropopause polar vortex in the generation of the January 2019 extreme Arctic outbreak

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel P. Lillo ◽  
Steven M. Cavallo ◽  
David B. Parsons ◽  
Christopher Riedel
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Polar Vortex ◽  
Direct Consequence ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Cold Air ◽  
Middle Latitudes ◽  
Cold Air Outbreak ◽  
Lake Effect ◽  
The Impact

AbstractAn extreme Arctic cold air outbreak took place across the Midwest, Great Lakes, and Northeast during 29 January to 1 February 2019. The event broke numerous long-standing records with wide-reaching and detrimental societal impacts. This study found that this rare and dangerous cold air out-break (CAO) was a direct consequence of a tropopause polar vortex (TPV) originating at high latitudes and subsequently tracking southward into the United States. The tropopause depression at the center of this TPV extended nearly to the surface. Simulations using the atmospheric component of the Model for Prediction Across Scales (MPAS) were conducted revealing excellent predictability at 6-7 days lead times with the strength, timing, and location of the CAO linked to the earlier characteristics of the TPV over the Arctic. Within the middle latitudes, the TPV subsequently developed a tilt with height. Warming and the destruction of potential vorticity also took place as the TPV passed over the Great Lakes initiating a lake effect snow storm. The climatological investigation of CAOs suggests that TPVs frequently play a role in CAOs over North America with a TPV located within 1000 km of a CAO 85% of the time. These TPVs tended to originate in the Northern Canadian Arctic and are ejected equatorward into the Great Lakes/Upper-midwest and then to the northeast over Labrador. This study also provides insight into how the impact of Arctic circulations on middle latitudes may vary within the framework of a rapidly changing Arctic.

scholarly journals Dynamically Downscaled Projections of Lake-Effect Snow in the Great Lakes Basin*,+

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 1661-1684 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Notaro ◽  
Val Bennington ◽  
Steve Vavrus
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Regional Climate Model ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
First Century ◽  
Great Lakes Basin ◽  
Lake Effect ◽  
Lake Model ◽  
Twenty First Century

Abstract Projected changes in lake-effect snowfall by the mid- and late twenty-first century are explored for the Laurentian Great Lakes basin. Simulations from two state-of-the-art global climate models within phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) are dynamically downscaled according to the representative concentration pathway 8.5 (RCP8.5). The downscaling is performed using the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) Regional Climate Model version 4 (RegCM4) with 25-km grid spacing, interactively coupled to a one-dimensional lake model. Both downscaled models produce atmospheric warming and increased cold-season precipitation. The Great Lakes’ ice cover is projected to dramatically decline and, by the end of the century, become confined to the northern shallow lakeshores during mid-to-late winter. Projected reductions in ice cover and greater dynamically induced wind fetch lead to enhanced lake evaporation and resulting total lake-effect precipitation, although with increased rainfall at the expense of snowfall. A general reduction in the frequency of heavy lake-effect snowstorms is simulated during the twenty-first century, except with increases around Lake Superior by the midcentury when local air temperatures still remain low enough for wintertime precipitation to largely fall in the form of snow. Despite the significant progress made here in elucidating the potential future changes in lake-effect snowstorms across the Great Lakes basin, further research is still needed to downscale a larger ensemble of CMIP5 model simulations, ideally using a higher-resolution, nonhydrostatic regional climate model coupled to a three-dimensional lake model.

scholarly journals Influence of Lake Erie on a Lake Ontario Lake-Effect Snowstorm

2018 ◽  
Vol 57 (9) ◽  
pp. 2019-2033 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. R. Kristovich ◽  
Luke Bard ◽  
Leslie Stoecker ◽  
Bart Geerts
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Moisture Transport ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Surface Wind ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Laurentian Great Lakes ◽  
Lake Surface ◽  
High Moisture ◽  
Lake Effect

AbstractAnnual lake-effect snowstorms, which develop through surface buoyant instability and upward moisture transport from the Laurentian Great Lakes, lead to important local increases in snowfall to the south and east. Surface wind patterns during cold-air outbreaks often result in areas where the air is modified by more than one Great Lake. While it is known that boundary layer air that has crossed multiple lakes can produce particularly intense snow, few observations are available on the process by which this occurs. This study examines unique observations taken during the Ontario Winter Lake-effect Systems (OWLeS) field project to document the process by which Lake Erie influenced snowfall that was produced over Lake Ontario on 28 January 2014. During the event, lake-effect clouds and snow that developed over Lake Erie extended northeastward toward Lake Ontario. OWLeS and operational observations showed that the clouds from Lake Erie disappeared (and snow greatly decreased) as they approached the Lake Ontario shoreline. This clear-air zone was due to mesoscale subsidence, apparently due to the divergence of winds moving from land to the smoother lake surface. However, the influence of Lake Erie in producing a deeper lake-effect boundary layer, thicker clouds, increased turbulence magnitudes, and heavier snow was identified farther downwind over Lake Ontario. It is hypothesized that the combination of a low-stability, high-moisture boundary layer as well as convective eddies and limited snow particles crossing the mesoscale subsidence region locally enhanced the lake-effect system over Lake Ontario within the plume of air originating over Lake Erie.

The Frequency and Characteristics of Lake-Effect Precipitation Events Associated with the New York State Finger Lakes

2009 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 873-886 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Laird ◽  
Ryan Sobash ◽  
Natasha Hodas
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Salt Lake ◽  
New York State ◽  
Weather System ◽  
York State ◽  
Lake Effect ◽  
Finger Lakes ◽  
Precipitation Band ◽  
Precipitation Events

Abstract This study presents a climatological analysis of the frequency and characteristics of lake-effect precipitation events that were initiated or enhanced by lakes within the New York State (NYS) Finger Lakes region for the 11 winters (October–March) from 1995/96 through 2005/06. Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) data from Binghamton, New York, were used to identify 125 lake-effect events. Events occurred as 1) a well-defined, isolated precipitation band over and downwind of a lake, 2) an enhancement of mesoscale lake-effect precipitation originating from Lake Ontario and extending southward over an individual Finger Lake, 3) a quasi-stationary mesoscale precipitation band positioned over a lake embedded within extensive regional precipitation from a synoptic weather system, or 4) a transition from one type to another. Results show that lake-effect precipitation routinely develops over lakes that are considerably smaller than lakes previously discussed as being associated with lake-effect precipitation, such as the Great Lakes. Lake-effect events occurred during each month (October–March) across the 11 winters studied and were identified in association with each of the six easternmost Finger Lakes examined in this study. The frequency of NYS Finger Lakes lake-effect events determined in the current investigation paired with subsequent analyses of the environmental conditions leading to these events will allow for 1) comparative analyses of necessary conditions for lake-effect development across a range of lake sizes (e.g., NYS Finger Lakes, Lake Champlain, Great Salt Lake, and Great Lakes) and 2) an informative examination of the connection between mesoscale processes and climate variability.

scholarly journals Diurnal Variations in Lake-Effect Precipitation near the Western Great Lakes

2005 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. R. Kristovich ◽  
Michael L. Spinar
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Precipitation Data ◽  
Upper Midwest ◽  
Precipitation Frequency ◽  
Physical Mechanisms ◽  
Lake Effect ◽  
Western Great Lakes ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract Lake-effect snowstorms are important parts of the climate of the U.S. Upper Midwest, with significant economic and societal impacts on communities close to the Great Lakes. Some impacts, particularly those on air and ground transportation, depend critically on the time of day that lake-effect precipitation occurs. This study utilizes hourly precipitation data collected near Lakes Superior and Michigan to determine the diurnal behavior of lake-effect precipitation frequency. Precipitation data from approximately 200 lake-effect days during 1988–93, identified by a previous study based on visible satellite data, are examined. A distinct morning maximum and afternoon/evening minimum in lake-effect precipitation frequency was observed, with the largest variations at sites within the snowbelt regions. The relative importance of several factors known to influence lake-effect precipitation development was examined to gain insight into the physical mechanisms controlling the diurnal evolution of lake-effect precipitation.

scholarly journals Synoptic Climatology of Lake-Effect Snow Events off the Western Great Lakes

Climate ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Jake Wiley ◽  
Andrew Mercer
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Lake Superior ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Forecast Model ◽  
Synoptic Climatology ◽  
Synoptic Scale ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Lake Effect

As the mesoscale dynamics of lake-effect snow (LES) are becoming better understood, recent and ongoing research is beginning to focus on the large-scale environments conducive to LES. Synoptic-scale composites are constructed for Lake Michigan and Lake Superior LES events by employing an LES case repository for these regions within the U.S. North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) data for each LES event were used to construct synoptic maps of dominant LES patterns for each lake. These maps were formulated using a previously implemented composite technique that blends principal component analysis with a k-means cluster analysis. A sample case from each resulting cluster was also selected and simulated using the Advanced Weather Research and Forecast model to obtain an example mesoscale depiction of the LES environment. The study revealed four synoptic setups for Lake Michigan and three for Lake Superior whose primary differences were discrepancies in a surface pressure dipole structure previously linked with Great Lakes LES. These subtle synoptic-scale differences suggested that while overall LES impacts were driven more by the mesoscale conditions for these lakes, synoptic-scale conditions still provided important insight into the character of LES forcing mechanisms, primarily the steering flow and air–lake thermodynamics.

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