Floridian here (I know, I know) - this is completely foreign to me. What am I looking at? Is that just a huge down burst of… snow?
Cold air from the north moves over a large body of water which is (relatively) warmer and thus takes up warmth and humidity.
It then hits the cold shore, causing air temperatures to drop again as well. Colder air can carry less humidity, so it nearly instantly forms into heavy fog and clouds.
As air can move more swiftly over water than over land, it also gets “compressed” slightly upon hitting the shore, which can lead to the just-formed clouds to thicken up enough to cause heavy snowfall.
EDIT: what you see on this photo is the superhumid air condensing into fog and clouds.
Got it, so it’s not necessarily a wall of only snow - but it probably has a lot of it. That looks like it would be pretty intimidating to set out of your window. Dang nature, you crazy!
Snow Ape.
I’m angry. I can’t unsee it, thank you very much.
Snowfiki
I live on the eastern shore of lake Erie, and we easily got 3 feet of snow since Thanksgiving. It’s so deep that I can’t even use my snow blower to clear the driveway.
Where my in-laws live in northern Quebec multiple companies offer driveway snow removal services where they send a large tractor. On one end is a large (expandable) blade that they use to pull the snow down to the street and on the other end is an auger they use to throw it up into the yard. They come multiple times to allow you to move cars or just keep up with ongoing snowfall.
I’ve never seen that anywhere else; is that a service in your area?
Not that I’m aware of. There are a bunch of local contractors that will plow your driveway for a nominal fee, but my neighbor has a tractor with a snow plow attachment and thankfully dug out the driveway. That was Friday, and it snowed so much in between now and then that it took me 2 hours to use my snow blower today. And we don’t have a long driveway.
Damn Buffalo! Why you so scary???
I LOVE Buffalo, I truly do.
And here I am, wanting to move there from Los Angeles.
Still would.
Snow’s fantastic. You just make sure you have food and booze. Most (keyword most) employment is accommodating. Apart from that you make sure the heater vent is clear, if it’s a real fun one you might need to shovel the roof, but you prep to not go anywhere. OR the even MORE fun part is walking to the local bar.
That’s for relatively warm lake effect. That all goes out the window if it’s a truly brutal blizzard. Buffalo specifically had an ugly cold christmas a few years back that was absolutely brutal. People freezing to death leaving there cars looking for a house with someone home. Suspended emergency services. That was not the “fun” kind of snow storm.
Bay area, and same. I miss four seasons (Virginia is closest I’ve been so mild winters). The housing market, politics, and long term climate prospects of the northeast make it pretty damn appealing.
It being snowy where you want to go is a … Detriment?
I lived just outside of Dallas most of my life, before moving to LA. Never dealt with real snow. It sounds more terrifying than any earthquake, IMO.
You probably shouldn’t mine to Buffalo.
I don’t have the mining equipment. Guess I’ll have to do it the old fashioned way and fly.
Very reasonable.
edit: In my own defense regarding the previous comment, I literally woke up, opened lemmy, checked my inbox, and typed that comment in response to what I saw. It’s not what I meant to say, but I stand by it. I think mining involves licensing and things, so at least without prep work, you probably shouldn’t mine in (or to) Buffalo.
Truly a mystery why anyone chooses to live in that Frozen hellscape of a city
A better question is why hasn’t capitalism driven a market for mountain building for ski resorts?
As a snowboarder I think you’re asking the real questions here. If only my local could add 10k feet to it…
You want them to build a mountain?
I know of at least three ski hills that were decommissioned garbage dumps.
Rochester checking in - not Buffalo but sometimes we get similar amounts of snow. I love it. Snowmobiling is a thing everyone should do at least once in their lifetime, there is truly nothing else like it. I’m not talking the mountain riding through 10ft of powder like you see on IG or FB, even just normal trial riding on a couple feet of snow is incredible. You learn how to drive a car on it pretty quick, it’s not that bad and the cities that typically get snow like this one are prepared for the amount of snow they get except in the most extreme circumstances. Ice fishing, skiing/snowboarding - snow just opens up a whole new set of fun wintertime activities
I absolutely adore Buffalo. I would live there anytime, if it wasn’t part of the US. It’s an incredible city.
