Editing Great Lakes (section)

==Climate==
The Great Lakes have a humid continental climate,
[[Köppen climate classification]] Dfa (in southern areas) and Dfb (in northern parts)<ref name="epa-atlas-ch2">{{cite web |url = http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/atlas/glat-ch2.html |work = The Great Lakes: An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book |title = Natural Processes in the Great Lakes |access-date = November 27, 2011 |date = July 24, 2008 |publisher = Environmental Protection Agency }}</ref> with varying influences from air masses from other regions including dry, cold Arctic systems, mild Pacific air masses from the west, and warm, wet tropical systems from the south and the Gulf of Mexico.<ref name="king">{{cite web |url = https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090113101122.htm |title = Great Lakes Water Levels Sensitive To Climate Change |access-date = April 14, 2010 |date = January 14, 2009 |website = Science Daily }}</ref> The lakes have a moderating effect on the climate; they can also increase precipitation totals and produce [[lake effect snow]]fall.<ref name="epa-atlas-ch2"/>

===Lake effect===
[[File:Lake effect snow wind direction bands1.png|thumb|upright=1.0|The location of common lake effect bands on the Great Lakes]]
{{Main|Lake-effect snow#Great Lakes region}}
{{More citations needed section|date=February 2021}}

The Great Lakes can have an effect on regional weather called ''[[lake-effect snow]]'', which is sometimes very localized. Even late in winter, the lakes often have no icepack in the middle. The prevailing winds from the west pick up the air and moisture from the lake surface, which is slightly warmer in relation to the cold surface winds above. As the slightly warmer, moist air passes over the colder land surface, the moisture often produces concentrated, heavy snowfall that sets up in bands or "streamers". This is similar to the effect of warmer air dropping snow as it passes over mountain ranges. During freezing weather with high winds, the "[[snowbelt]]s" receive regular snow fall from this localized weather pattern, especially along the eastern shores of the lakes. Snowbelts are found in Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario. Related to the lake effect is the regular occurrence of fog, particularly along the shorelines of the lakes. This is most noticeable along Lake Superior's shores.

The lakes tend to moderate seasonal temperatures to some degree but not with as large an influence as do large oceans; they absorb heat and cool the air in summer, then slowly radiate that heat in autumn. They protect against frost during transitional weather and keep the summertime temperatures cooler than further inland. This effect can be very localized and overridden by offshore wind patterns. This temperature buffering produces areas known as "[[fruit belt]]s", where fruit can be produced that is typically grown much farther south. For instance, [[western Michigan]] has apple orchards, and cherry orchards are cultivated adjacent to the lake shore as far north as the [[Grand Traverse Bay]]. Near [[Collingwood, Ontario]], commercial fruit orchards, including a few wineries, exist near the shoreline of southern [[Nottawasaga Bay]]. The eastern shore of Lake Michigan and the southern shore of Lake Erie have many successful wineries because of the lakes' moderating effects, as do the large commercial fruit and wine growing areas of the Niagara Peninsula located between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. A similar phenomenon allows wineries to flourish in the [[Finger Lakes]] region of New York, as well as in [[Prince Edward County, Ontario]], on Lake Ontario's northeast shore.

The Great Lakes have been observed to help intensify storms, such as [[Hurricane Hazel]] in 1954, and the [[2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado]], which moved onshore as a tornadic [[waterspout]]. In 1996, a rare tropical or subtropical storm was observed forming in Lake Huron, dubbed the [[1996 Lake Huron cyclone]]. Rather large severe thunderstorms covering wide areas are well known in the Great Lakes during mid-summer; these [[Mesoscale convective complex]]es or MCCs<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.weather.gov/glossary/index.php?letter=m |title = Glossary |publisher = National Weather Service }}</ref> can cause damage to wide swaths of forest and shatter glass in city buildings. These storms mainly occur during the night, and the systems sometimes have small embedded tornadoes, but more often straight-line winds accompanied by intense lightning.