Winter’s apex has now come and (almost) gone, with average temperatures very slowly, but surely beginning to climb. But just because “peak winter” has passed, doesn’t mean the winter weather is going to stop.

Our most recent noteworthy snow event was just last Wednesday (Feb. 7). And… it caused SUNY Oswego to cancel afternoon and evening classes! I’m sure a lot of students were overcome with joy when they received that text message. Only 4 to 5 inches fell on campus, but it was of the dense and slippery variety.

Additionally, the snow created a plethora of beauty on campus. The “still” kind of beauty, something we don’t see quite as often here in windy Oswego.

A tree next to Glimmerglass Lagoon with a fresh blanket of snow all around. Oddly enough, this is not a black-and-white image!

A calm wintry scene at the lakeshore with pack ice mounds in the foreground. Remember, no climbing on the pack ice – despite the fact that it is a large hunk of water in solid form, it is *not* solid!

There have been a number of other snow events the past few weeks as well, but none that dropped more snow than this Wednesday’s event. Over winter break, however, in the wee hours of the morning December 27, Oswego received a staggering 30” of lake-effect snowfall in a 6 hour period! That’s an average snowfall rate of about 5” per hour. Nearly the fastest snow will ever come down around here. Now, if that would happen while we’re here to see it…..

Sheldon Hall with a fresh blanket of snow after the Feb. 7th event.

Unfortunately for the snow lovers, the next couple of weeks look to turn milder than averag, with few meaningful snow chances in sight. Bring on spring! (The groundhog did not get the memo.)

Hey Oswego!

October is ending, which means fall is (literally) about to be blown away. Leaves will soon be changing and falling off the trees. For those tracking the fall foliage, we can expect peak color on campus this weekend and into next week, with a secondary peak around next weekend as the later-changing oak trees finally turn.

If you look closely, you’ll notice some wavy clouds in the left-center of this image from Oct. 25th. These are Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds! This is the second time I’ve seen them directly in front of a sunset. (First time here.)

The bigger weather story in the past couple of weeks was the storm that blew through Oswego and the surrounding area on Sunday, the 15th. Campus weather stations recorded wind gusts as high as 53 mph as the storm approached. Additionally, the leading edge of the storm featured a shelf cloud:

A shelf cloud is found at the front edge of a line of storms, and is result of air being lifted (often due to a cold front) and then condensing, forming a cloud. Typically, the presence of this cloud indicates that strong winds will occur at the leading edge of the storm, often a minute or two before the rain actually begins. This occurred with this storm, with the strongest winds just before and just after the heavy rain started.

We’re expecting a huge dive into autumn these next several days here in Oswego. A stormy system looks to dump a few inches of rain across the region, and bringing in chilly air behind it. It’s finally happening! Now let’s just hope I’m not talking about snow in my next post…

Hello, Oswego! You’ve officially made it through the first week of classes.

As many of you know, I frequently visit the lake shore, most often at sunset. However, last week (on August 24) I went down to the rocks at about 7am. This is what I saw, 30 minutes later:

A waterspout!

Waterspouts are common on the Great Lakes, especially from late July to mid October. However, it is pretty uncommon to actually see them from the lake shore, let alone from a specific location such as Oswego. This is due to the fact that most form far enough offshore, that they can’t be seen from the shore. And the ones that do form near the shore often occur at night or in the early morning, when it’s either too dark or most people are still sleeping. Here in Oswego, spouts are visible 2 to 3 times a year, on average.

Waterspouts on the Great Lakes most often occur when relatively cold air passes over a warmer body of water. This generates a lake-effect response. Other features, such as a passing cold front, land breeze [an offshore wind], and convective circulations can enhance the “spin” within the lower levels of the atmosphere. When a circulation becomes strong enough, it generates a funnel cloud, and once that circulation hits the water (similar to when a tornado touches down) it is officially classified as a waterspout. Spouts are usually not a threat to land, however boaters must take necessary precautions if spouts are possible or occurring.

This particular spout actually started off as two funnel clouds (look closely just left of center):

The funnel on the right took over and eventually became the waterspout pictured above.

So, if you head down at the lake on a cool, breezy day, you might just get lucky and see one of nature’s secret phenomena. Have a great week!