(NATIONAL) – Southern Colorado has been pretty quiet when it comes to weather lately. The region has been blessed with several days of sunshine and relatively pleasant temperatures for at least a week. Just because it’s quiet here doesn’t mean it’s quiet everywhere.

Parts of the Great Lakes region have been grappling with a multi-day lake-effect snow event since the end of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Several feet of snow were observed and there were some reports of heart attacks from people in the area attempting to shovel all the snow.

In addition to all lake effect snow warnings, Erie County, Pennsylvania is also under a blizzard warning as of Thursday evening. Blowing snow, gusty winds and lake effect snow will make travel conditions difficult, if not impossible, late into Friday night.

But what exactly is lake effect snow? It’s certainly not very common here in southern Colorado.

To start, you need a lake. One of the most common areas where lake effect snow occurs is the Great Lakes of the United States.

The lake water must be relatively warm compared to the surrounding area and it must not be frozen. The early winter months are the best time to achieve these conditions. Heat and moisture slowly rise from the lake and evaporate into the lower atmosphere. At the same time, cold air from nearby storm systems will attempt to collide with the warm rising air.

When these air masses interact with each other, condensation and cloud formation can easily occur as conditions rise. The increase in moisture from the lake and energy from nearby storm systems will allow for rapid and efficient snow production downwind of the lake.

Lake effect snow can be particularly dangerous for those suffering from the persistent bands of precipitation. Wind direction is crucial to the arrangement of snow stripes and often determines which side of a neighborhood has snow and which does not. Buffalo New York is a common location for lake effect snow, the National Football League noted last Sunday night.

Lake effect snow is not expected here in Southern Colorado any time soon, but the region is likely to see snow early next week. Be sure to contact the FOX21 Storm team for future updates.

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