If you’re planning a winter flight to places around the eastern or southern shores of the Great Lakes, you need to be alert for any mention of lake-effect snow during your weather briefing.
If you’ve ever spent a winter within a few miles of the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, or the southern and eastern shores of lakes Erie and Ontario, you know all about the deep lake-effect snow that has to be shoveled off ramps, taxiways, runways, roads, and airplanes. You also should know that the clouds that cause this snow can hide extreme turbulence and icing.
In lake-effect snow, cold air blowing over relatively warm water rises to form snow clouds.
When these clouds move inland over rising terrain, it creates bands of heavy snow with clear air in between. Your home can be flake-free, while the airport only 10 miles away is covered by two feet
of snow.
A lake-effect storm in November 2014 dropped just six inches of snow on Buffalo Niagara International Airport, but dumped more than five feet about five miles away in one day—and it kept snowing.
The good news is that forecasts of lake-effect snow, like most weather phenomena, are improving. But, like all forecasts, they aren’t perfect and aren’t likely to be any time soon. If the lake freezes over, moisture fueling the snow is cut off.
If you regularly fly from an airport in a place where winter brings lake-effect snow or if you’re flying toward such a place, you should closely track the weather and change your plans if it looks like you could be caught by lake-effect snow. Find a safe, warm place on the ground to watch the snow pile up.
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