Utah Students Study Lake Effect Snow in NY
PhD Candidate Leah Campbell shows her releasing a weather balloon during a field program
in upstate New York.
Have you ever wondered what it was like to launch a weather balloon in 4 inches per hour snowfall? Professor Jim Steenburgh and his students are doing just that!
Professor Steenburgh and some of his students are in Oswego County, New York for the OWLeS field program “Ontario Winter Lake-Effect Systems” (owles.org). During their 6 weeks stay students will take measurements every six hours during storms.
“Meteorlogist are pretty good at predicting when lake effect is going to happen now under most circumstances, but figuring out how strong it’s going to be and exactly where it is, that’s really the challenge, that kind of pinpoint forecasting,” said Professor Steenburgh.
The Ontario Winter Lake-Effect Systems project is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and is giving our students the opportunity to learn more about snow than they ever could in a classroom.
To follow the group's research and adventures, please read the Wasatch Weather Weenies blog, created and maintained by Professor Steenburgh. Local news outlet, Time Warner Cable News, recently published a story about the OWLeS field project. View the video here.