Weather: snow squall

Self-tutoring about weather terms: the tutor mentions one he’s wondered about.

To my understanding, we don’t often get snow squalls on the west coast; I can’t recall seeing them in a forecast out here before now. I have heard of them for the Great Lakes region, though.

A snow squall can happen where a cold front – from the Arctic, in the Canadian situation – passes over unfrozen water. Relatively speaking, the water will likely be warmer than the artic air of the cold front. Hence, the warm, moist air just above the water will rise quickly as the cold front passes over, due to the difference in temperature.

As the warm, moist air rises into the cold arctic air, its moisture will crystallize into snow. Depending on the strength of the wind from the cold front, as well as the warmth of the water, the snowfall can be sudden and intense, perhaps plunging visibility to zero. A snow squall typically won’t last too long, perhaps an hour or so. A given snow squall may occur across only a small area.

Source:

weather.gov

globalnews.ca

Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.

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