The weather in Syracuse, New York during the winter is
affected by two different air masses; the continental polar air mass from the
north and the maritime polar air mass from the south. These two air masses
account for the cold, humid climate in Syracuse, and the continental polar air
mass is responsible for the “Lake Effect Snow” occurrence, which is discussed
later. The continental polar masses originate from the north and bring dry,
cold air and the maritime polar masses come from the northeast bringing moist,
cold air. The summer months are affected by the maritime tropical and
continental tropical air masses which provide the warm, humid summer trends. The maritime tropical masses bring moist, warm
air from the Gulf and the continental tropical masses bring dry, warm air from
the southern Mexico region.
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| www.kidsgeo.com |
Central New York typically experiences both warm and cold
fronts throughout the entire year, with the cold fronts being responsible for both
precipitation in the form of rain in the summer and snow in the winter, as well
as dry, cold weather. The warm fronts throughout the year vary in the amount of
precipitation brought as well, and the underlying factor as to whether or not
the front brings moisture is dependent upon where it originates from, as noted
above.
As for the current weather in Syracuse, there is a warm
front moving into the area that is taking effect on the 12th and 13th
of April. This front will bring rain, thunderstorms due to the warm and cold fronts coming together, and most likely wind, but
temperatures will be warmer than the area has been experiencing recently, and
quite possibly record highs. Once this warm front has passed however, a cold
front is in the forecast which will bring rain and possibly snow.
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| The cold front forecast to move through after the warm front has passed. AccuWeather.com |
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| AccuWeather.com |
One factor that can be considered unique to Syracuse is that
of “Lake Effect Snow”, which also occurs in other parts of the United States,
such as the Salt Lake City area, or any other area with a large body of water
that contributes to large amounts of snowfall. Central New York receives its lake effect snow from the Great Lakes; most commonly Lake Ontario, but sometimes from Lake Huron or Superior. Lake effect snow occurs during
the wintertime when a cold air mass travels over a warmer body of water, which
can be any body of water, such as a lake or an ocean. When the cold air mass
travels over the warm water, the lower layer of cold air is heated by the
warmth of the warmer body of water which then causes the moisture to evaporate
into the cold air. Once the moisture has evaporated, it rises and then cools to
form clouds which eventually form snow and then fall. This phenomenon typically
produces large quantities of snow.
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| Lake Effect Snow imagery; theweatherprediction.com |
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| blog.syracuse.com |
Information gathered from:
www.syracuse.com
www.centralny.twcnews.com
www.NOAA.gov/
