It's one of those perfect winter days, not too cold, light snowflakes meandering down, a snow so light it won't add up to more than a couple of inches, even if it falls all day. I don't think this is lake effect snow, but that's what I'm thinking about. Lake effect, and what it means to live near something with the power to influence weather. Here on Wisconsin's coast, we know about lake effect snow, but not the way they do over in Michigan, or along the Upper Peninsula's Superior shore. On the Great Lakes' southern and eastern shores, it's a different matter.
Most winter storms sweep in from the northwest to southeast, and cold fronts follow.
The cold air, passing over the water, picks up warmth and moisture, and rises. Clouds form over the water and advance toward shore. When the land surface slows down the flow of air, the warm air piles up, then rises rapidly, triggering snow showers or squalls. Those cold northwest winds don't cause lake effect snow here - they just blow out over the lake. The Michigan shore is where the snows fall.