Have you ever wondered if the Finger Lakes here in New York actually help produce snow? It turns out, they may actually help create snow. How though?

University of Wyoming conducted a new study recently that confirms that the largest Finger Lakes produce their own lake effect snow. However, they don't do this alone. They get a "boost from ice crystals" blowing 30 miles in from Lake Ontario.

According to Syracuse.com, researchers flew a plane over Seneca and Cayuga lakes in January 2014 to watch clouds and snow pour off the south ends of the lakes. Research from another study found that the big Finger Lakes can produce snowfalls of up to 8 inches in one storm, the new study found that some of the snow is generated by tiny ice crystals blown in from Lake Ontario.

Researchers found that the crystals seeded the clouds rising off Seneca Lake. When ice crystals drop into a cloud of supercooled water droplets, snow forms through a process called "ice nucleation."

"These droplets you find in clouds billowing over a lake are at first just supercooled droplets and don't immediately freeze," said Bart Geerts, who conducted the study with fellow Wyoming professor Philip Bergmaeir. "Some ice crystals floating upstream into these clouds may have accelerated the process of snow growth.""

Just another reason why we always get hammered with snow in Central New York right?


BONUS VIDEO- TAKE THIS SNOW AND SHOVE IT

 

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