Impressive lake-effect cloud and snow plumes across Lake Superior

Arctic air interacts with still relatively ice-free warmer waters on Lake Superior

Lake effect plumes on Lake Superior 1
Lake-effect cloud and snow plumes drift across Lake Superior on Tuesday.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, via COD Weather Lab

Our arctic air mass played cold weather tricks across Lake Superior Tuesday.

Lake Superior is still about 90 percent ice-free. That’s way below the historical average ice cover for late January.

Lake Superior ice cover 2
Lake Superior ice cover on Jan. 30 compared with previous years
NOAA

Subzero air temperatures in the morning wafted across lake temperatures in the 30s above zero.

Lake Superior water temperatures
Lake Superior water temperatures
NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

That made for some interesting atmospherics just above the lake's surface as the relatively warmer water transferred heat and moisture into the frigid air layer above.

As southwest winds persisted, long strands of lake-effect clouds and squally snow developed across the length of Lake Superior blowing eastward into the Canadian side of the lake.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s NAM 3 km model picks up the progression of the lake-effect snow bands drifting into Ontario overnight.

NOAA NAM 3 km model
North American Mesoscale Forecast System 3 km model between 6 p.m. Tuesday and midnight Wednesday
NOAA, via Tropical Tidbits

Weather never sleeps. And Lake Superior never ceases to interact with our Upper Midwest air masses.

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