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Looking at climate data, I’ve always been surprised by how much snow cities like Denver in the United States get for the temperatures, but I assumed most of the snow occurred at night when it was very cold due to the high diurnal range. Looking at Southwest Japan (sea of Japan Coast, windward side of the Japanese mountain ranges) there is an incredible amount of snowfall for the temperatures, even with low diurnal range. How come this happens in Japan, but not in here in Canada?
This climate, for example https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yonago#Climate
It's a common trend on the Japanese West Coast. Cold area blows from Siberia and gathers moisture over the Sea of Japan which turns into a LOT of snow. It's like lake-effect snow, but over a sea.
It's still mind boggling that subtropical Yonago gets more snow than Edmonton.
It snows during the day as elsewhere here but it's more concentrated into short big bursts followed by a lot of milder days and the nights are similarly cold as on warmer days since not as much heat is lost. The snow also holds less moisture here so it packs higher than slushy snow and exaggerates the snow totals.
It snows during the day as elsewhere here but it's more concentrated into short big bursts followed by a lot of milder days and the nights are similarly cold as on warmer days since not as much heat is lost. The snow also holds less moisture here so it packs higher than slushy snow and exaggerates the snow totals.
Does it snow still when it’s 8 or 9°C outside? Or do you mean it will snow at a cooler temperature around freezing, followed by much warmer days in the 12-15°C range?
Does it snow still when it’s 8 or 9°C outside? Or do you mean it will snow at a cooler temperature around freezing, followed by much warmer days in the 12-15°C range?
It will snow at a cooler temperature around freezing, followed by much warmer days in the 12-15°C range. https://weather.com/weather/monthly/...500098c8eb3bbe If you look at January here that's a typical example.
It's a common trend on the Japanese West Coast. Cold area blows from Siberia and gathers moisture over the Sea of Japan which turns into a LOT of snow. It's like lake-effect snow, but over a sea.
It's still mind boggling that subtropical Yonago gets more snow than Edmonton.
Is it much colder in the clouds, so it falls as snow and doesn’t melt yet before it hits the ground? It’s crazy that it can snow at 5, 6 or 7°C. Don’t think I’ve ever seen that happen here.
Is it much colder in the clouds, so it falls as snow and doesn’t melt yet before it hits the ground? It’s crazy that it can snow at 5, 6 or 7°C. Don’t think I’ve ever seen that happen here.
I think he's saying that you're more likely to get precipitation when temperatures are below average in western Japan. When it's below average it will be more like -2C to 1C so it can snow. And then when it's average or above average like 3-6C there's not as much precipitation.
Meanwhile here in Ontario, during winter, we're more likely to get precipitation when it's above average temperatures. For example, in Brantford, they get an average of 54.7mm of precipitation in January, of which half (27.6mm) is rain, even though the daily mean is -6C. When Brantford has a cold air mass over it, it's typically dry, and it's mostly when there's interaction with warm air masses that it gets precipitation in winter, and those warm air masses have a good chance of pushing temperatures above freezing, resulting in winter rain. This January was an exception - since it was colder than average, so it was more unusual for temperatures to be warm enough for rain.
An even more extreme example of a region with cold winters, but lots of rain would be the east coast of Nova Scotia and south coast of Newfoundland. There they can get around 80% of their January precipitation as rain, even with average temperatures of around -5C.
This map of Canada show the areas that have the "unexpected" combination of cold weather, but a lot of rain, in January. (it multiplies January rainfall by January mean temp) Canada's Plant Hardiness Site
On the flipside, somewhere like southern Alberta (ex Lethbridge) has similar winter temperatures to southern Ontario or the Maritimes, but gets virtually no winter rain - only snow.
It snows during the day as elsewhere here but it's more concentrated into short big bursts followed by a lot of milder days and the nights are similarly cold as on warmer days since not as much heat is lost. The snow also holds less moisture here so it packs higher than slushy snow and exaggerates the snow totals.
Denver snow ,one inch of water will equal 15 inches of snow .. Light power ,blows away or evaporates.
Boston snow ,one inch of water will equal only 9 inches of snow.. heavy concrete .freezes into Glaciers.
Looking at climate data, I’ve always been surprised by how much snow cities like Denver in the United States get for the temperatures, but I assumed most of the snow occurred at night when it was very cold due to the high diurnal range. Looking at Southwest Japan (sea of Japan Coast, windward side of the Japanese mountain ranges) there is an incredible amount of snowfall for the temperatures, even with low diurnal range. How come this happens in Japan, but not in here in Canada?
This climate, for example https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yonago#Climate
Snowfall in Denver is largely driven by moisture from the Gulf of Mexico pulled northward by synoptic-scale low pressure systems. Snow in those systems is generally limited to the northwest and northeastern quadrant of the storm - otherwise, the Gulf air is still too warm to allow for snowfall, and precipitation instead falls as rain or ice.
Snowfall in western Japan, on the other hand, is driven by sea-effects and orographic lift. Cold, continental air masses from Siberia pick up moisture from the Sea of Japan, and the mountains lift and compress it into snowfall. There are very different processes driving the snowfall from what you see in Colorado (except for the slight snow enhancement from the Rockies).
Snowfall in Denver is largely driven by moisture from the Gulf of Mexico pulled northward by synoptic-scale low pressure systems. Snow in those systems is generally limited to the northwest and northeastern quadrant of the storm - otherwise, the Gulf air is still too warm to allow for snowfall, and precipitation instead falls as rain or ice.
Snowfall in western Japan, on the other hand, is driven by sea-effects and orographic lift. Cold, continental air masses from Siberia pick up moisture from the Sea of Japan, and the mountains lift and compress it into snowfall. There are very different processes driving the snowfall from what you see in Colorado (except for the slight snow enhancement from the Rockies).
What I find shocking about Yonago is that its climate is very similar to that of Knoxville, Tennessee. Yonago averages more than 52 inches of snow annually, while Knoxville doesn't even get 1/10 that amount. This can't be accounted for by drier winters in Knoxville; precip amounts in the winter months are nearly identical to Yonago's. Knoxville also has mountains to its east. Of course, Knoxville doesn't have a huge sea to its west.
I wonder if Knoxville would be just as snowy as Yonago if the Great Lakes covered all of Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
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