Editing Lake-effect snow (section)

=== North America ===

==== The Great Lakes region ====
[[File: Snowband anim.gif|thumb|right|Lake effect snow bands over [[Central New York]]]]
[[File: USA-Lake-Effect-Snow-Areas.svg|thumb|right|Map showing some of the lake-effect snow areas of the United States]]

Cold winds in the winter typically prevail from the northwest in the Great Lakes region, producing the most dramatic lake-effect snowfalls on the southern and eastern shores of the [[Great Lakes (North America)|Great Lakes]]. This lake effect results in much greater snowfall amounts on the southern and eastern shores compared to the northern and western shores of the Great Lakes.

The most affected areas include the [[Upper Peninsula of Michigan]]; [[North Country (New York)|Northern New York]] and [[Central New York]]; particularly the [[Tug Hill]] Region, [[Western New York]]; [[Northwestern Pennsylvania]]; [[Northeast Ohio|Northeastern Ohio]]; [[southwestern Ontario]] and central Ontario; Northeastern Illinois (along the shoreline of Lake Michigan); northwestern and north central [[Indiana]] (mostly between [[Gary, Indiana|Gary]] and [[Elkhart, Indiana|Elkhart]]); northern [[Wisconsin]] (near Lake Superior); and [[West Michigan]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.climatesource.com/us/fact_sheets/fact_snowfall_us.html |title=Mean Monthly and Annual Snowfall for the Conterminous United States |date=2003 |website=The Climate Source |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609005310/http://www.climatesource.com/us/fact_sheets/fact_snowfall_us.html |archive-date=2008-06-09}}</ref>

Lake-effect snows on the Tug Hill plateau (east of [[Lake Ontario]]) can frequently set daily records for snowfall in the United States. Tug Hill receives, typically, over {{convert|20|ft|in cm|0}} of snow each winter.<ref name="NAME">{{cite web |url=http://www.northernforestalliance.org/explore/wildlands/tughill/TUGindex.htm |title=Tug Hill Plateau – New York |website=Northern Forest Alliance |access-date=February 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509164303/http://www.northernforestalliance.org/explore/wildlands/tughill/TUGindex.htm |archive-date=May 9, 2008 |url-status=usurped}}</ref> The snowiest portions of the Tug Hill, near the junction of the towns of [[Montague, New York|Montague]], [[Osceola, New York|Osceola]], [[Redfield, New York|Redfield]], and [[Worth, New York|Worth]], average over {{convert|300|in|cm}} of snow annually.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Average Annual Snowfall |url=https://www.weather.gov/buf/Winter |access-date=2023-03-07 |website=National Weather Service Buffalo Forecast Office |archive-date=March 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307164900/https://www.weather.gov/buf/Winter |url-status=live }}</ref>

From February 3–12, 2007, a lake-effect snow event left {{convert|141|in|cm|0}} of snow in 10 days at North Redfield on the Tug Hill Plateau.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2007/feb/feb07.html |title=Climate of 2007 – February in Historical Perspective |date=15 March 2007 |website=[[National Climatic Data Center]] |access-date=2008-03-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071221141454/http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2007/feb/feb07.html |archive-date=December 21, 2007}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Bassette |first=Kellen |title=A History of Severe Weather to the lee of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in Western, Central, and North-Central New York 1798-2022 |publisher=Kellen Bassette |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-0880-7520-3 |pages=403–407, 603–608, 623–628, 643–649}}</ref> Other examples major prolonged lake effect snowstorms on the Tug Hill include December 27, 2001, - January 1, 2002, when {{convert|127|in|cm}} of snow fell in six days in Montague, January 10–14, 1997, when {{convert|110.5|in|cm}} of snow fell in five days in North Redfield, and January 15–22, 1940, when over eight feet of snow fell in eight days at Barnes Corners.<ref name=":0" />

[[Syracuse, New York]], directly south of the Tug Hill Plateau, receives significant lake-effect snow from Lake Ontario, and averages {{convert|115.6|in|cm}} of snow per year, which is enough snowfall to be considered one of the "snowiest" large cities in America.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/askjack/2003-10-01-snowiest-cities_x.htm |title=Answers: 10 snowiest 'cities' aren't all in New York |first=Chris |last=Cappella |date=3 October 2003 |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012221017/http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/askjack/2003-10-01-snowiest-cities_x.htm |archive-date=2011-10-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=We won't buckle under the Snowbelt's blows |first=Sean |last=Kirst |date=14 March 2005 |newspaper=[[The Post-Standard]]}}</ref>

[[Lake Erie]] produces a similar effect for a zone stretching from the eastern suburbs of [[Cleveland]] through [[Erie, Pennsylvania|Erie]] to [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]].<ref name="SCHMID">{{cite journal |url=https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/1811/23329/1/V089N4_101.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070716081655/https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/1811/23329/1/V089N4_101.pdf |archive-date=2007-07-16 |url-status=live |title=Climatic Summary of Snowfall and Snow Depth in the Ohio Snowbelt at Chardon |first=Thomas W. |last=Schmidlin |date=1989 |journal=[[The Ohio Journal of Science]] |volume=89 |number=4 |pages=101–108 |access-date=2008-03-01}}</ref> Remnants of lake-effect snows from Lake Erie have been observed to reach as far south as [[Garrett County, Maryland]], and as far east as [[Geneva, New York]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nrcc.cornell.edu/climate/Impacts_02-95.html |title=February Brings Winter Weather to the Northeast |date=February 1995 |website=Northeast Regional Climate Center |access-date=2008-03-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611035114/http://www.nrcc.cornell.edu/climate/Impacts_02-95.html |archive-date=2007-06-11}}</ref> Because it is not as deep as the other lakes, Erie warms rapidly in the spring and summer, and is frequently the only Great Lake to freeze over in winter.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.great-lakes.net/teach/geog/intro/intro_6.html |title=Introduction to the Great Lakes: Lake Erie |website=Great Lakes Information Network |access-date=2008-03-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509065549/http://www.great-lakes.net/teach/geog/intro/intro_6.html |archive-date=2008-05-09}}</ref> Once frozen, the resulting ice cover alleviates lake-effect snow downwind of the lake. Based on stable isotope evidence from lake sediment coupled with historical records of increasing lake-effect snow, global warming has been predicted to result in a further increase in lake-effect snow.<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1175/1520-0442(2003)016<3535:IGLSDT>2.0.CO;2 |year=2003 |volume=16 |issue=21 |pages=3535–3542 |title=Increasing Great Lake–Effect Snowfall during the Twentieth Century: A Regional Response to Global Warming? |journal=Journal of Climate |last1=Burnett |first1=Adam W. |last2=Kirby |first2=Matthew E. |last3=Mullins |first3=Henry T. |last4=Patterson |first4=William P. |bibcode=2003JCli...16.3535B|s2cid=58935593 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

A very large [[snowbelt]] in the United States exists on the [[Upper Peninsula of Michigan]], near the cities of [[Houghton, Michigan|Houghton]], [[Marquette, Michigan|Marquette]], and [[Munising, Michigan|Munising]]. These areas typically receive {{convert|250|-|300|in|cm|0}} of snow each season.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.x98ruhf.net/lake_effect.htm |title=Lake-Effect Precipitation in Michigan |first=Robert J. |last=Ruhf |website=Dr. Robert J. Ruhf |access-date=2008-03-01 |archive-date=March 12, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312054030/http://www.x98ruhf.net/lake_effect.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> For comparison, on the western shore, [[Duluth, Minnesota]] receives {{convert|78|in|cm|0}} per season.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.met.utah.edu/jhorel/html/wx/climate/normsnow.html |title=Average Snowfall, Inches |website=University of Utah, Department of Meteorology |access-date=2008-03-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080212045630/http://www.met.utah.edu/jhorel/html/wx/climate/normsnow.html |archive-date=February 12, 2008}}</ref>

[[Western Michigan]], western [[Northern Michigan|Northern Lower Michigan]], and [[Northern Indiana]] can get heavy lake-effect snows as winds pass over Lake Michigan and deposit snows over [[Muskegon, Michigan|Muskegon]], [[Traverse City, Michigan|Traverse City]], [[Grand Rapids, Michigan|Grand Rapids]], [[Kalamazoo, Michigan|Kalamazoo]], [[New Carlisle, Indiana|New Carlisle]], [[South Bend, Indiana|South Bend]], and [[Elkhart, Indiana|Elkhart]], but these snows abate significantly before [[Lansing, Michigan|Lansing]] or [[Fort Wayne, Indiana]]. When winds become northerly or aligned between 330° and 030°, a single band of lake-effect snow may form, which extends down the length of Lake Michigan. This long fetch often produces a very intense, yet localized, area of heavy snowfall, affecting cities such as [[La Porte, Indiana|La Porte]] and [[Gary, Indiana|Gary]].<ref name="glisa.umich.edu">{{cite web |url=http://glisa.umich.edu/resources/lake-effect-snow-great-lakes-region |title=Lake-effect Snow in the Great Lakes Region |website=[[Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments]] |access-date=2014-04-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413141621/http://glisa.umich.edu/resources/lake-effect-snow-great-lakes-region |archive-date=2014-04-13}}</ref>

Because Southwestern Ontario is surrounded by water on three sides, many parts of Southwestern and Central Ontario get a large part of their winter snow from lake-effect snow.<ref>{{cite web |last=Scott |first=Cameron |date=December 14, 2010 |title=How Lakes Affect Snowfalls |url=http://www.sciences360.com/index.php/how-lakes-affect-snowfalls-lake-effect-snow-7263/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704151748/http://www.sciences360.com/index.php/how-lakes-affect-snowfalls-lake-effect-snow-7263/ |archive-date=July 4, 2014 |access-date=October 23, 2013 |website=Sciences360.com}}</ref> This region is notorious for the whiteouts that can suddenly reduce highway visibility on North America's busiest highway ([[Ontario Highway 401]])<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jennings |first=Ken |date=18 June 2018 |title=The World's Widest Highway Spans a Whopping 26 Lanes |url=https://www.cntraveler.com/story/the-worlds-widest-highway-spans-a-whopping-26-lanes |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125133814/https://www.cntraveler.com/story/the-worlds-widest-highway-spans-a-whopping-26-lanes |archive-date=January 25, 2021 |access-date=2021-02-17 |website=Condé Nast Traveler |language=en-us}}</ref> from clear to zero. The region most commonly affected spans from [[Port Stanley, Ontario|Port Stanley]] in the west, the [[Bruce Peninsula]] in the north, [[Niagara-on-the-Lake]] to the east, and [[Fort Erie, Ontario|Fort Erie]] to the south. The heaviest accumulations usually happen in the Bruce Peninsula, which is between [[Lake Huron]] and Georgian Bay. So long as the Great Lakes are not frozen over, the only time the Bruce Peninsula does not get lake-effect snow is when the wind is directly from the south.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="180px">
File:Buffalo2001-20.jpg|[[Buffalo, New York]], after {{convert|82.3|in|cm}} of snow fell from December 24, 2001, to December 28, 2001
File:Fultonles.jpg|Fulton, New York, after a snowburst dropped {{convert|4|-|6|ft|cm|0}} of snow over most of Oswego County January 28–31, 2004
File:Snow-removal-cleveland-4.jpg|The Veteran's Day storm of November 9–14, 1996. At the height of the storm, over 160,000 customers were without power in Greater Cleveland alone, as the storm produced isolated snowfall tallies approaching {{convert|70|in|cm|0}}.
</gallery>

==== Elsewhere in the United States ====
{{See also|Great Salt Lake effect}}

The southern and southeastern sides of the [[Great Salt Lake]] receive significant lake-effect snow. Since the Great Salt Lake never freezes, the lake effect can influence the weather along the [[Wasatch Front]] year-round. The lake effect largely contributes to the {{convert|55|-|80|in|cm|0}} annual snowfall amounts recorded south and east of the lake, and in average snowfall reaching {{convert|500|in|m|0}} in the [[Wasatch Range]]. The snow, which is often very light and dry because of the semiarid climate, is referred to as the "Greatest Snow on Earth" in the mountains. Lake-effect snow contributes to roughly six to eight snowfalls per year in [[Salt Lake City]], with about 10% of the city's precipitation being contributed by the phenomenon.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://deseretnews.com/misc/gsl/105002200.htm |title=Lake has great impacts on storm, weather |first=Joe |last=Bauman |date=August 5, 1999 |newspaper=[[Deseret News]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002201320/http://deseretnews.com/misc/gsl/105002200.htm |archive-date=October 2, 2012}}</ref>

On one occasion in December 2016, lake-effect snow fell in central [[Mississippi]] from a lake band off [[Ross Barnett Reservoir]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wtok.com/content/news/Tuesday-December-20-Afternoon-Forecast-Discussion-407646085.html |title=Tuesday, December 20 Afternoon Forecast Discussion |first=Brian |last=Hutton |date=December 20, 2016 |website=[[WTOK-TV]] |access-date=January 7, 2017 |archive-date=January 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107172149/http://www.wtok.com/content/news/Tuesday-December-20-Afternoon-Forecast-Discussion-407646085.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] occasionally experiences ocean-effect showers, usually in the form of rain at lower elevations south of about the mouth of the [[Columbia River]]. These occur whenever an Arctic air mass from western Canada is drawn westward out over the Pacific Ocean, typically by way of the [[Fraser Valley]], returning shoreward around a center of low pressure. Cold air flowing southwest from the Fraser Valley can also pick up moisture over the [[Strait of Georgia]] and [[Strait of Juan de Fuca]], then rise over the northeastern slopes of the [[Olympic Mountains]], producing heavy, localized snow between [[Port Angeles, Washington|Port Angeles]] and [[Sequim, Washington|Sequim]], as well as areas in [[Kitsap County, Washington|Kitsap County]] and the [[Puget Sound region]].<ref name=mass>{{cite book |last=Mass |first=Cliff |title=The Weather of the Pacific Northwest |year=2008 |publisher=[[University of Washington Press]] |isbn=978-0-295-98847-4 |page=60}}</ref>

While snow of any type is very rare in Florida, the phenomenon of gulf-effect snow has been observed along the northern coast of the [[Gulf of Mexico]] a few times in history. More recently, "ocean-effect" snow occurred on January 24, 2003, when wind off the Atlantic, combined with air temperatures in the 30&nbsp;°F range, brought snow flurries briefly to the Atlantic Coast of northern Florida seen in the air as far south as [[Cape Canaveral]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.weather.gov/media/mlb/surveys/012403.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127225141/http://www.weather.gov/media/mlb/surveys/012403.pdf |archive-date=2017-01-27 |url-status=live |title=Cold Temperatures and Snow Flurries in East-Central Florida January 24, 2003 |website=[[National Weather Service]] Office, Melbourne, Florida |access-date=2006-11-05}}</ref>