Yes, we do have the greatest snow on Earth here in Utah. And the mineral that we use to battle the snow on our roads actually helps to create this greatest snow. Sounds strange, but it is true. Salt makes snow melt, right? Salt also lets water reach a lower temperature before freezing or to not freeze at all (well, not at absolute zero, but hey we would not be here if that happened). Here in Utah we receive very little precipitation a year. In the Salt Lake City area we receive about 15 inches on average, not much huh. So how can we have the greatest snow on Earth? Yes, we may receive most of our precipitation in the winter, but that is not the main reason. We have "The Greatest Snow on Earth" because of the Great Salt Lake. GREAT isn't it! The Great Salt Lake is a remnant of Lake Bonneville, a pluvial lake that covered a large area of Utah, Nevada, and Idaho some 14,500 years ago. This lake formed in an area termed North America's Great Basin. The Great Salt Lake drains neither to the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean like other water bodies. The Great Salt Lake stays in this basin and evaporates and when water evaporates it leaves behind the salts (Great name huh!). So, how does this salt help with the snow? The Great Salt Lake has a very high salinity content. The salinity range of the Great Salt Lake runs between 5-27% depending on location of the lake. The oceans are on average 3.5%. Since the Great Salt Lake has this high of salinity it never freezes. This is where we get into the greatest snow. The lake remains relatively warmer than the air in the winter and especially after a cold front moves in. When the cold front moves in, especially from the northwest, this causes the warmer lake water to evaporate into the atmosphere and then increase snowfall in close proximity to the Great Salt Lake. This process is termed a lake-effect snow. Some areas of the Wasatch Mountain Range in the path of the lake effect see up to 500 inches per year. These lake-effect snows can be very geographic. Just this morning we received about 6 inches of snow, but as I went just a few miles to the west there was only a couple of inches. We were in the path of a lake-effect snow and further west was not.
I would now like to point out that this is evidence of a Great Creation. Imagine if here in Utah we did not receive most of our precipitation during the winter. We would not have water here in the summer running down from the snow packed mountains. The Great Salt Lake would completely dry up during the summer months. Also, it is great that we can take these salt from the lake and use to place on our roads to help with winter driving. It is almost like there was a Creator who came up with this wonderful design. As I have studied the Earth System Processes and continue to do so, I gain a greater understanding the creation of this Great Earth. I am amazed continually of the Creation that has been made for us. I am very grateful for a Creator that would design such a great place for us to live, EARTH.
I would like to end with a little observation I have made with respect to tithing and the lake- effect snows here in Utah. Without the added lake effect snows here in Utah we would have much less water. Some 10% of the precipitation we receive here in the Salt Lake area is from the lake-effect. Hmmmm! Sounds like a tithing blessing if you ask me. Blessing from tithing are not always monetary. THINK ABOUT IT!
6 comments:
Very interesting information. I enjoyed it! Thanks. I still don't like to drive in it, though.
You also might like this article http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705260919,00.html
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Yo Mama
HMMMM, interesting. I've got one push back though that hopefully you could clarify. The salt content doesn't actually raise the temp of the lake, does it? It just lowers the freezing point. Although the lake is generally warmer at the start of winter, this would be true of any large body of water, since water temp changes more slowly than air. Buffalo, NY gets most of its snow off of the lake affect off of Lake Erie (fresh water) This would also explain why most lake effect storms happen in the early part of winter. Am I on the right track or am I up in the night?
Randy, you are correct! The salinity does not make the water warmer it just drops the freezing point. I hope I did not give the impression that saltwater is warmer that freshwater. As far as I know freshwater and saltwater have the same specific heat capacity, but there could be a little difference because of the density of saltwater, but that is going too into it. And you are also correct that most lake-effect snows are early in the winter when the lake is warmer and as inertial cooling takes place and cools the lake the lake-effect lessens. The best lake-effect takes place when there is a 40 degree difference in air and water temperature and when storms move across the long axis of the lake. Thanks for reading and thinking.
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