Envirocast® On-Line Feature of the Week -- March 15, 2007

Melting Ice on Lake Erie

The images in this Envirocast® Bulletin were taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard NASA's Aqua satellite on March 9th and 13th, 2007. They show the melting ice on Lake Erie and the melting snow cover in the region.

Melting Ice on Lake Erie

The cold and snowy Great Lakes region is shown in the above animation, acquired by the MODIS on the Aqua satellite on March 9, 2007.  There was greater ice coverage on Lake Erie compared to the adjacent Lakes Ontario and Huron due to the fact that the water is more shallow in Lake Erie, allowing the water temperatures to cool and freeze more quickly in winter. By March 13th, almost half of the ice on Lake Erie was gone due the the recent warm weather, and there are significant snow cover changes in Michigan and Pennsylvania.

 

Zoom-in to the Detroit Area

 

Environmental Impacts:

  • Forecasters said weather during the past few days has been more than 20 degrees over normal high temperatures for this time of year, which are usually in the high 40s and low 50s.

  • By Friday afternoon, the warm weather will be a memory, with temperatures dipping into the 20s and 30s with snow being forecast.  A winter storm will dump snow on northern cities such as New York and Boston.

  • The recent warm weather has been putting a stress on Colorado's snowpack, increasing the risk of avalanches.  Three men were caught in an avalanche near Aspen on Tuesday, only one survived.  Spring avalanches are even more dangerous because the snow is wetter and heavier.

Envirocast® Bulletin is a service of StormCenter Communications, Inc. If you are having trouble downloading an image or if you have any questions, please call StormCenter Communications at 410-203-1316.

Envirocast® is a registered trademark of StormCenter Communications, Inc. Envirocast® content is copyright StormCenter Communications, Inc. and is intended to be used solely for those StormCenter customers using the Envirocast software or receiving Envirocast via e-mail delivery directly from StormCenter Communications, Inc. If you are not the intended addressee/recipient, you are hereby notified that any use of, disclosure, copying, distribution, or reliance on the contents of this E-Mail information is strictly prohibited.