I should think every web-surfing reader of TYWKIWDBI is fully aware of the lake-effect snow blanketing areas downwind from the not-frozen Great Lakes. A similar phenomenon occurred last week here in central Wisconsin.
An isolated but mighty band of snow whipped up Thanksgiving mischief for travelers in Wisconsin on Thursday. Over a several-hour period, a localized zone of occasionally heavy snow dropped a couple inches on places not far from Eau Claire — and the primary culprit was exhaust from a nearby glass factory.While the band didn’t hit a large area, it had a relatively high impact because of its location, parallel to Interstate 94 across western Wisconsin. At one point, very low visibility as well as rapidly changing road conditions fueled accidents that closed the thoroughfare.Meteorologists in the region got to talking about it as it unfolded. It turns out that a Menomonie glass factory was mostly to blame... Snowfall totals of about 2 to 3 inches have been logged from the event, according to the Weather Service.
The glass factory chimney was expelling steam. Similar anomalies have occurred from airplanes:
Flying cross country in the early winter I have seen places like this where outside of a band a couple miles wide there's no snow at all but a heavy blanket through that strip.
ReplyDeleteSo we are killing ourselves by exhausting water vapor?
ReplyDeleteI used to live by a ski area on the western slope of Colorado and recall hearing that after a downslope, upwind coal-fired power plant closed down in the late 60s or early 70s, snowfall totals dropped significantly. I had always assumed that the particulate matter in the smoke provided nucleation sites for ice crystal formation, causing snow (assisted by orographics). Now they seed clouds using propane burners to release silver iodide, perhaps mimicking the exhaust from the coal plant
ReplyDeleteApparently, you can sue a company for causing climate change. Maybe the town of Eau Claire can / should do that to the glass company?
ReplyDeleteIt seems you have just explained the cause of what is known as the "snow belt of Indiana", which follows both US 94 and US 90 (closely parallel) through Gary, Indiana.
ReplyDelete