People living in the Great Lakes snow belt area are having a rough few days. The snow in western New York is peaking six feet (1.8 meters) in some areas as winds off Lake Erie produce non-stop snowfall. The Michigan area also received significant snowfall thanks to Lake Michigan’s warm waters, with the city of Kalamazoo in western Michigan experiencing two feet (61 centimeters) over the weekend.
The video below offers an overview of the lake effect blizzard in its early stages. TikTok users reclaimpurpose captures a cute video of a school bus trying to make its way through the snow, made adorable by the children inside by giving their all to help the driver out. As the video zooms in, we see school children excitedly rocking back and forth in their seats, trying their best to get the bus moving. They’re not exactly in order, but hey, let’s give these kids a Hugh A for effort.
Did they succeed? The video ends before we know it, but the bus makes little headway towards freedom. Meanwhile, kids are getting something out of science class with momentum, so at least there is a number of education happens. However, we suspect these lessons are completely lost on the kids because of all the fun they are having. We doubt the driver was amused by this predicament.
Highly localized blizzards are caused by warm water in the Great Lakes combined with gusts of cold air. As air passes through open water, water vapor rises and condenses into precipitation. The result is heavy snowfall that can reach 50 or more miles inland, and the snow continues until weather patterns change. In this case, lake effect snow lasted for days, with parts of Michigan receiving nearly three feet of snow. The same situation is causing snowfall to double in parts of New York, although warmer temperatures are forecast for at least the next week.
