This website works best with a newer web browser such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Microsoft Edge. Internet Explorer is not supported by this website.

CIMSS Satellite Blog

MENU

Lake effect snow downwind of Lake Erie

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images, with an overlay of GLM Flash Extent Density [click to play MP4 animation]

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (above) include an overlay of GLM Flash Extent Density — which showed rapidly-cooling cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures (and intermittent lightning) over the eastern half of  Lake Erie, associated with the initial impulse of lake effect snow (LES) immediately downwind of the lake after sunset on 17 November 2022. Snowfall rates quickly ramped up to 3 inches per hour at Buffalo (station identifier KBUF), with lightning reported. Along the north shore of Lake Erie, about 20 miles west of Buffalo, a peak wind gust of 60 knots was recorded at Port Colborne, Ontario (station identifier CWPC) at 0211 UTC on 18 November.

In the wake of this initial impulse, a dominant LES band became established along the axis of Lake Erie, which persistent during the entire night and into the following morning — snowfall accumulations were as high as 36.0 inches by 1530 UTC (10:30 AM EST).

After sunrise on 18 November, 1-minute GOES-16 Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB images (below) indicated that much of the dominant LES band had cloud tops of mixed phase (supercooled water droplet + ice crystal) or glaciated phase (shades of yellow to green). By 2100 UTC (4:00 PM EST) on 18 November, the highest snowfall accumulations had reached 54 inches at Orchard Park just south of Buffalo.

GOES-16 Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB images, with an overlay of GLM Flash Extent Density [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

A toggle between Suomi-NPP VIIRS True Color RGB and False Color RGB images (below) depicted the broad LES band at 1828 UTC. The VIIRS data used to create these images were acquired and processed using the SSEC/CIMSS Direct Broadcast ground station.

Suomi-NPP VIIRS True Color RGB and False Color RGB images, valid at 1828 UTC [click to enlarge]

The GOES-16 Cloud Top Phase derived product (below) confirmed the Mixed Phase nature (darker green) of much of the LES band.

GOES-16 Cloud Top Phase derived product [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

After sunset on 18 November, GOES-16 Infrared images (below) showed that while the Lake Erie LES band was not as well-defined as earlier in the day, it still persisted (with isolated brief periods of lightning). By 0000 UTC on 19 November (7 PM EST on 18 November), snowfall accumulations had reached 66 inches at Orchard Park.

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images, with an overlay of GLM Flash Extent Density [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

===== 19 November Update =====

GOES-16 Day Snow-Fog RGB and Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB images [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

Breaks in the cloud cover on the morning of 19 November provided a partial glimpse of the snow cover that resulted from this LES event — appearing as shades of red in the GOES-16 Day Snow-Fog RGB images, and shades of green in the Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB images — which extended into the western Finger Lakes region of western New York. Snowfall accumulations were as high as 77.0 inches at Orchard Park.

=====

A list of storm total snowfall amounts from this multi-day (16-20 November) LES event is available here.

Categories: GLM, GOES-16, Lightning, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images, Suomi NPP, VIIRS, Winter weather