Explanation:
What are those strange clouds stretching out from these lakes?
The clouds are caused by cold air moving over a warm water
and result in bands of
lake-effect snow.
The rising bands of moistened, warmed air that drop
lake-effect snow alternate with clear bands of falling cold air.
During a winter, such bands can create
hundreds of centimeters of snow more than upwind areas only a
hundred kilometers away.
During this
lake-effect snowfall of 2000 December 5,
practically all of the state of
Michigan,
USA got covered.
A cold northwesterly wind over
Great Lakes
Superior and Michigan
created the unusual clouds.
The above image was taken with NASA's SeaWiFS satellite.
