The photo at the top of this entry is Buffalo, Wednesday Tuesday afternoon. It’s my old neighborhood on Elmwood Avenue. The Sun is shining brightly.
Wondering where the snow is?
robhimself793: I’m about a mile from the snow band, I have very little snow, maybe 6″. Just a mile south and people have 3 feet.
You’re seeing one of the more interesting aspects of Lake Effect snow. It is VERY localized. There’s heavy snow just a few miles from where this image was captured.
Lake Effect snow is the product of convection. Heat and moisture are transferred upward into the clouds from the relatively warm lake. You can see that in this time lapse of Lake Erie, one of the coolest pieces of weather video I’ve ever seen.
Heavy Lake Effect snow needs cold wind roughly parallel to the lake to get going. The resulting storm forms slender ‘streamers’ which reach out from the lake. They are often just a few miles wide, with flurries at the edges and white out conditions in the middle!
Near the Great Lakes it’s possible to drive from no snow to 4″/hour conditions in just two or three miles! These bands can stay stationary for hours, or even days!
Buffalo gets a lot of snow each winter, over 90 inches! Because of Lake Effect there are heavier snowbelts south of the city. People in Buffalo scratch their heads why anyone would want to live there, as we scratch our heads over Buffalo.
000 NOUS41 KBUF 182125 PNSBUF NYZ001>008-010>014-019>021-085-190925- PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT SPOTTER REPORTS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY 425 PM EST TUE NOV 18 2014 ********************STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL******************** LOCATION STORM TOTAL TIME/DATE COMMENTS SNOWFALL OF /INCHES/ MEASUREMENT NEW YORK ...ERIE COUNTY... 2 S CHEEKTOWAGA 51.0 330 PM 11/18 TRAINED SPOTTER 2 SW ALDEN 48.0 1252 PM 11/18 TRAINED SPOTTER 3 WSW ELMA 46.0 1215 PM 11/18 COCORAHS WEST SENECA 45.0 1141 AM 11/18 SOCIAL MEDIA DEPEW 42.0 1200 PM 11/18 TRAINED SPOTTER LANCASTER 42.0 900 AM 11/18 NWS EMPLOYEE 1 N HAMBURG 37.0 330 PM 11/18 NWS EMPLOYEE ALDEN 34.0 106 PM 11/18 NWS EMPLOYEE ORCHARD PARK 32.0 129 PM 11/18 NWS EMPLOYEE WEST FALLS 29.0 318 PM 11/18 SOCIAL MEDIA 3 SW BLASDELL 27.0 335 PM 11/18 TRAINED SPOTTER EAST AURORA 17.0 1240 PM 11/18 NWS EMPLOYEE DERBY 14.0 100 PM 11/18 TRAINED SPOTTER 3 N CHEEKTOWAGA 2.0 125 PM 11/18 PUBLIC ...JEFFERSON COUNTY... PHILADELPHIA 15.0 1128 AM 11/18 PUBLIC 3 S THERESA 14.0 215 PM 11/18 COCORAHS ...LIVINGSTON COUNTY... CALEDONIA 5.0 330 PM 11/18 PUBLIC **********************24 HOUR SNOWFALL********************** LOCATION 24 HOUR TIME/DATE COMMENTS SNOWFALL OF /INCHES/ MEASUREMENT NEW YORK ...CATTARAUGUS COUNTY... 1 NNE FRANKLINVILLE 2.0 800 AM 11/18 COCORAHS ...ERIE COUNTY... ALDEN 48.0 1100 AM 11/18 AMATEUR RADIO LANCASTER 48.0 1015 AM 11/18 AMATEUR RADIO 1 S EAST LANCASTER 42.0 1000 AM 11/18 NEAR COMO PARK ELMA 37.2 820 AM 11/18 COCORAHS 1 E EAST LANCASTER 37.0 1040 AM 11/18 SOCIAL MEDIA 1 WNW ORCHARD PARK 36.0 910 AM 11/18 DEPT OF HIGHWAYS ORCHARD PARK 30.0 1000 AM 11/18 SOCIAL MEDIA 1 SE ELMA CENTER 22.0 900 AM 11/18 COCORAHS 1 N HAMBURG 21.5 930 AM 11/18 NWS EMPLOYEE HAMBURG 20.0 1052 AM 11/18 BROADCAST MEDIA 2 S AKRON 16.0 800 AM 11/18 COCORAHS 2 ENE COLDEN 4.2 800 AM 11/18 COCORAHS 2 NE BOSTON 3.0 800 AM 11/18 COCORAHS AKRON 3.0 1000 AM 11/18 SOCIAL MEDIA 3 ENE AMHERST 2.4 800 AM 11/18 COCORAHS 2 SE GLENWOOD 1.8 800 AM 11/18 COCORAHS 4 NE BUFFALO 1.0 800 AM 11/18 CO-OP OBSERVER 3 E WILLIAMSVILLE 1.0 800 AM 11/18 COCORAHS KENMORE 1.0 1000 AM 11/18 SOCIAL MEDIA ...GENESEE COUNTY... EAST PEMBROKE 24.0 1000 AM 11/18 SOCIAL MEDIA ...JEFFERSON COUNTY... 2 SW CARTHAGE 6.0 800 AM 11/18 COCORAHS 3 S THERESA 5.0 800 AM 11/18 COCORAHS ...LEWIS COUNTY... BEAVER FALLS 6.5 1020 AM 11/18 TRAINED SPOTTER WATSON 6.0 950 AM 11/18 SOCIAL MEDIA ...LIVINGSTON COUNTY... AVON 1.6 827 AM 11/18 CO-OP OBSERVER ...WYOMING COUNTY... ATTICA 18.0 1015 AM 11/18 AMATEUR RADIO WYOMING 8.0 1010 AM 11/18 SOCIAL MEDIA 3 E VARYSBURG 4.7 800 AM 11/18 COCORAHS $$ SJW
Literally, as I was watching a news report about the snow in Buffalo, I opened this. As always, you’ve provided us with a better explanation….I can’t wait to share it with my husband!
Thanks Geoff!
I used to live in Gowanda which is about 45 mins south of Buffalo,my inlaws are from the area….I dont miss those winters!!
lol///btw..I think you meant Tues afternoon? 🙂