Lake Effect: Tales of Large Lakes, Arctic Winds, and Recurrent Snows

by Mark Monmonier

Overview

Blending meteorological history with the history of scientific cartography, Monmonier charts the phenomenon of lake-effect snow and explores the societal impacts of extreme weather. Along the way, he introduces readers to natural philosophers who gradually identified this distinctive weather pattern, to tales of communities adapting to notoriously disruptive storms, and to some of the snowiest regions of the country. Characterized by intense snowfalls lasting from a couple of minutes to several days, lake-effect snow is deposited by narrow bands of clouds formed when cold, dry arctic air passes over a large, relatively warm inland lake. With perhaps only half the water content of regular snow, lake snow is typically light, fluffy, and relatively easy to shovel. Intriguing stories of lake effect's quirky behavior and diverse impacts include widespread ignorance of the phenomenon in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Since then a network of systematic observers have collected several decades of data worth mapping, and reliable shortterm predictions based on satellites, Doppler radar, and computer models are now available. Moving effortlessly from atmospheric science to anecdotes, Monmonier offers a richly detailed account of a type of weather that has long been misunderstood. Residents of lake-effect regions, history buffs, and weather junkies alike will relish this entertaining and informative book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780815610045
Publisher:	Syracuse University Press
Publication date:	09/13/2012
Pages:	260
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Mark Monmonier is Distinguished Professor of Geography at Syracuse University. He is the author of fifteen books, including How to Lie with Maps; Air Apparent: How Meteorologists Learned to Map, Predict, and Dramatize Weather; Spying with Maps: Surveillance Technologies and the Future of Privacy; and Coast Lines: How Mapmakers Frame the World and Chart Environmental Change.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 Recipe 1

2 Discovery 19

3 Prediction 59

4 Impacts 91

5 Records 117

6 Change 142

7 Place 163

Notes 187

Illustration Credits 223

Index 233

What People are Saying About This

The Geographical Review - Cary J. Mock

Lake Effect is an easy and pleasurable book for anybody interested in Great Lakes snow, whether the reader is simply a resident of the Northeast U.S. or a professional meteorologist. (University of South Carolina)

Editorial Reviews

Syracuse University professor Monmonier renders isolated weather incidents unexpectedly engrossing. Lake-effect storms occur when freezing northern winds howl across the warmer waters of sufficiently large and deep lakes, picking up evaporation and depositing it in the form of sudden and startlingly large snow storms on the leeward side. While early chapters on recognizing and predicting these storms require slogging through dates and charts, Monmonier makes up for it with tales of epic snowfalls in tiny towns like Bennett’s Ridge, Barnes Corners, and Lowville where residents debate school closures, and street clearing while keeping a close eye on their national snow-fall records, and competing for the coveted Golden Snowball Award. Culminating in an engaging guided tour with the author and his wife, Marge, through snow-choked villages in the Tug Hill area of New York (Lewis County), the book overcomes all Weather Channel wonkery as a charmingly executed slice of Americana. 14 b/w illus, 59 maps, 9 graphs. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Lake Effect can answer any question the lay reader or scientist might have about the snows of the Great Lakes, while regaling both with tales of the life-threatening nature of the beast.

Technology and Culture

Lake Effect is an easy and pleasurable book for anybody interested in Great Lakes snow, whether the reader is simply a resident of the Northeast U.S. or a professional meteorologist.

The Geographical Review

Lake Effect can answer any question the lay reader or scientist might have about the snows of the Great Lakes, while regaling both with tales of the life-threatening nature of the beast.

Technology and Culture - Dr. Lou McNally is former chief meteorologist at WIVB-TV Buffalo

Lake Effect is an easy and pleasurable book for anybody interested in Great
Lakes snow, whether the reader is simply a resident of the Northeast U.S. or a professional meteorologist.

The Geographical Review - Cary J. Mock

A useful resource for library collections supporting meteorology and geography programs, and for collections in Great Lakes regions. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates and general readers. — L. S. Zipp, formerly, State University of New York College at Geneseo

Choice

For fans of snow, meteorology, cartography, history, weather records, maps and geography, Monmonier's book is a treasure trove of engrossing and entertaining stories about some of the snowiest inhabited areas in the world.

USA Today