24 May 2012

Lake Breeze Around Lake Erie and Lake Ontario

Posted by Dan Satterfield

From the NASA Aqua Satellite. This is a true color image.

NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a gorgeous view of the lake breeze around Lakes Erie & Ontario  Wednesday afternoon. The still, very chilly, waters of the lakes can produce a strong and pronounced lake breeze as the late spring sunshine warms up the land. Afternoon temps. near the lake were in the low 60’s while it was in the mid to upper 70’s just a few miles inland.

Just to remind you that the physical process here is the warming land causes the air to rise and the pressure drops. The cool and dense air over the lakes then rushes toward the low pressure over the surrounding land. A return circulation develops above the ground.