Climatology of Lake-Effect Precipitation Events over Lake Champlain

Abstract

Abstract This study provides the first long-term climatological analysis of lake-effect precipitation events that developed in relation to a small lake (having a surface area of ≤1500 km2). The frequency and environmental conditions favorable for Lake Champlain lake-effect precipitation were examined for the nine winters (October–March) from 1997/98 through 2005/06. Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) data from Burlington, Vermont, were used to identify 67 lake-effect events. Events occurred as 1) well-defined, isolated lake-effect bands over and downwind of the lake, independent of larger-scale precipitating systems (LC events), 2) quasi-stationary lake-effect bands over the lake embedded within extensive regional precipitation from a synoptic weather system (SYNOP events), or 3) a transition from SYNOP and LC lake-effect precipitation. The LC events were found to occur under either a northerly or a southerly wind regime. An examination of the characteristics of these lake-effect events provides several unique findings that are useful for comparison with known lake-effect environments for larger lakes. January was the most active month with an average of nearly four lake-effect events per winter, and approximately one of every four LC events occurred with southerly winds. Event initiation and dissipation occurred on a diurnal time scale with an average duration of 12.1 h. In general, Lake Champlain lake-effect events 1) typically yielded snowfall, with surface air temperatures rarely above 0°C, 2) frequently had an overlake mesolow present with a sea level pressure departure of 3–5 hPa, 3) occurred in a very stable environment with a surface inversion frequently present outside the Lake Champlain Valley, and 4) averaged a surface lake–air temperature difference of 14.4°C and a lake–850-hPa temperature difference of 18.2°C. Lake Champlain lake-effect events occur within a limited range of wind and temperature conditions, thus providing events that are more sensitive to small changes in environmental conditions than are large-lake lake-effect events and offering a more responsive system for subsequent investigation of connections between mesoscale processes and climate variability.