Road Work: Lake Effect: A Primer

Some of you may have heard or read in the news about the snow storm that left dozens of cars stranded over night on a short stretch of highway east of Buffalo this past Wednesday and Thursday. What you may not know, unless you are familiar with the vagaries of lake effect snow, is just how incredibly isolated the snow fall was during this remarkable event.

Lake effect snow occurs when a cold wind blows across a warm body of water and then continues onto a cold land mass. Moisture is absorbed from the lake and then condensed by the cold, thereby creating snow. It's a pretty common occurrence in Buffalo due to the City's position on the eastern tip of Lake Erie.

Its almost as if the lake is aimed at the city, like a gigantic snow cannon.

The lake is 241 mile long and when the wind is blowing from the southwest, it has every one of those miles to gather moisture, or in this case, ammunition. When the wind is steady, as it was during this most recent event, the area affected by the snow can be amazingly specific.

On Wednesday and Thursday the wind was slightly more out of the west than the southwest which essentially gave the city of Buffalo and the northern suburbs a "get out of jail free" card in terms of snowfall.

The eastern suburbs were not so lucky. In particular the towns of Lackawana and West Seneca, which got 32 and 40 inches respectively in about 24 hours.

The area of route 90 in the circle is the section of the NYS Thruway that was
closed formore than 24 hours and where all the cars were stranded.

I had planned a trip to Buffalo on Thursday but delayed it for a day once I found out that half the area was inaccessible. I made the drive out on Friday and couldn't resist the chance to photo-document the snowfall.

Here is the snow coverage in downtown Buffalo on Friday afternoon:

Just off Niagara street near Lafayette Square. Note the evident grass.

Same general area. You can see the City Hall to the left of the tree.

This section of the city is technically on the Niagara River, just north of where the water from Lake Erie funnels into the river on its' way to Niagara Falls. It is often spared the worst of the lake effect blasts (but not always).

From here I headed south over the skyway onto route 5.

Okay, I didn't take this on Friday. But I like it and it helps the story. So There.

Here's what it looked like less than 2 miles to the south, in the full lee of the lake and the wind:

Look! Snow!

This really is barely 1 mile south of downtown, where,
as you will recall, there is basically no snow.

And another mile south, on the western edge of Lackawana:

That's a lot of snow to plow from a tiny parking lot.

6 foot high plow berm on the side of the road. Note the giant wind turbines in the background.
They are not a part of the story, but I love them.

Still clearing and widening route 5 more than 12 hours after the snow stopped.

For a little bit of overkill, here are some shots from the continuing Thruway cleanup effort on Friday and of the roadside as the highway goes through West Seneca:

And just to emphasize how narrow the band of snow coming off the lake was, here is a picture taken on the Thruway near the town of Hamburg about 10 miles south of Buffalo:

Maybe 3 inches of snow just north of Hamburg.

That's lake effect in a nut shell. Water, wind and cold land combining to play a practical joke on anyone unlucky enough to be in its' path.

All of which makes Buffalo one of the few places in the world where you can tell your boss "Hey. I'm snowed in and can't come in today" and have them believe you, replying only, "OK, let me know when you can make it." Even though there is bright sun and dry roads at work.

Oh, and I did get to drive through a few scattered flurries on the way home Friday night. Snow looks pretty when you photograph it through the windshield without a flash.