Radar shows lake effect

[George Preoteasa]

I have not seen radar images in the forum, so here is something different. Radar does not see clouds, rather it sees precipitation. I can talk a bit about how radar works and what it can see, but that would be boring. Instead, I hope I can get you to appreciate some pretty pictures or some impressive ones.

Lake effects are one of my favorites. This is the NE of the US. Cold air is flowing in from Canada from NW towards SE. As it passes over the not-so-cold Great Lakes, it picks up moisture which becomes precipitation downwind.

Those patches look like altocumulus, but the real clouds, I suspect, are thick stratocumulus or nimbostratus. The images are enhanced to indicate snow, rain or mixed precip (blue, green, orange/pink).

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