MARQUETTE COUNTY -- The brunt of this snow event we're facing is all too familiar to Upper Michigan.
It's lake effect.
All along the Great Lakes shores, white powder is piling up. Lake effect snow season has been here for a while now, but only recently have we seen the snowfall totals pick up. The main reason is that the main ingredients are finally in place.
"Typically they use a value of around a 13 degree difference at least. For example, we had the water temperature this past week was 39 degrees or so, and the temperatures at the surface, just about 10, and higher up it was even less than that, so we had a good lake effect scenario," said meteorologist Megan Babich of the National Weather Service.
And the weather has been very cold lately with daytime highs barely hitting the teens on a couple occasions.
When the cold air moves across the water of Lake Superior, it picks up moisture as well as warmth. Because the lower air is now warmer than the air above it, it rises, which causes clouds to form, and eventually they start snowing as they hit land and higher elevations.
"The longer the distance the air travels over the water, the more snow you're going to get from lake effect because it has more time to gather more moisture and become more unstable," Babich added.
The only thing that can turn off the lake effect snow machine, ironically, is ice. It prevents lakes from warming up or providing moisture to cold air blowing across it.
But until the ice pack forms later this winter, keep your shovels handy and snowblowers gassed up.
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