• Wednesday-What'sUP July 14 - 10:12 am

What is LES, you might ask? According to John Dee the Keweenaw's resident meteorologist (and long-time Pasty Central supporter!), it refers to Lake Effect Snow. A simple definition of LES is: "Snow showers that are created when cold dry air passes over a large warmer lake, such as one of the Great Lakes, and picks up moisture and heat." Greta Jones captured the sun rising amidst that LES we've been experiencing lately, showing how the sun's intensity is blotted out to some degree, if not completely, when the snows are falling heavily. Mother nature compensates us for hiding the sun, by blanketing the trees with her whiteness, thus brightening the surroundings during the absence of our brightest daystar!

mornin

It's amazing how it can snow hard in the U.P. even in single digit temperatures. That seldom happens downstate.

Nice picture. We don't see the sun that often up here this time of year. Hey! We may reach 20 degrees today. Dig out the shorts & T-shirts!! Ya, Right!!!

Great picture!

Good morning from Mishawaka IN. A cold but pretty picture. 24° here this morning. We had a little LES overnight. Have a good day everyone.

Less LES, please!

We wouldn't get LES here no matter what--No Lake! but I love the picture. 37° here.

More LES is more fun!

HEIKINpäivää tännekin kaikille.. .

You're so right, Mary, about snow cover compensation for lack of sun. It magnifies the light and the cheerfulness of the people! It gets very depressing down here when it's cold and damp and grey and colorless and no snow. We have been very lucky this year.

It's a cold 17 degrees here this morning. But out 'n at 'em anyway!

Such a peaceful picture...thank you!

please god just one half a day of the sun i need
vit. K or is it vit. D i dont care i would like to see it

Chris~It is 17 degrees here in South Range too.

Warmer near the lake! We've had a hard time breaking out of
single digits here on the prairie the last couple weeks.

Love the big snow the U.P. gets, although I've only experienced
it in the Ironwood/Bessemer/Wakefield area.

Its snowing here again, but like everything else, its just better
somehow in the UP.

Warmer this morning in West Texas with a temp of 45 and a warm up on the way to 70's this week. Hopefully there is some warm up on the way for the yoopers:) Stay warm!!!!

Got up this a.m. to a BALMY 32 degrees! Woohoo!
It snowed last night, and will rain/sleet today till noon. I've shoveled and salted, and packed in a few necessaries already today. Busy, busy me.

Beautiful picture, Greta -- like the rest in your gallery. We're aiming for a high of 46 today in Northern California's Sacramento valley -- from a low of about 40. No rain, but lots of morning fog and overcast all day long. They call it a trough, but there's still no LES, so no shoveling. Lucky folks on the coast with highs nearing 70!

I love LES! This morning before dawn I was out shoveling the walk from door to driveway, and felt warm outside for the first time since this arctic air settled in. The dogs were running through the loose snow, throwing it up with their muzzles and taking in great mouthfuls of it. They ran around to the back, and it was so quiet, no cars, just the wind. At first light I looked out while eating breakfast and the light was a deep blue-purple, and there was a doe working on the seed I had just put out for the doves. Absolutely beautiful!

Good morning! Nice photo today!
That photo just looks cold. It reminds me of when I was teaching in Wisconsin. We had a some mighty cold mornings, on the order of -20, -30, and even -40 (air temperature, not wind chill). My trusty old Dodge truck always got me to work, even though she wasn't too fond of -45.
Out here it is starting to warm up already. We had some big storms that dumped snow in the mountains and caused some bad avalanches, but now it is sunny again and around 70 degrees.

The sun is bright and beautiful here in Chesaning. Snowfall overnight was far less than predicted. Roads are slippery and many accidents have taken place this morning. Schools are open and the buses running. ABC12 just announced that the State Police are asking motorists to stay off I75 between Birch Run and Saginaw due to a high amount of accidents. A very deceptive weather day.

Beautiful pic...there is something so peaceful and beautiful about snow on the trees. The trees don't look so gloomy without their leaves, once they are dusted in snow.

I love the lake effect snow too, as I have always lived on/near one of the great lakes. The snow is so beautiful the way it lights up everything in the night...none of those dark dreary days or nights like we have during the fall.

Woke up to temps in the mid 30's this morning...oh no, the snow is starting to melt. Crossing my fingers that we get cooler temps and those snow showers that are forcasted for tomorrow.

Thanks for sharing a wonderful picture; I like the snow barely hanging on to the trees in some spots.

Hi Michigan! This picture sure brings back memories. Brrrrr. We are finally drying out in Southern California and expecting 80 degrees today. Will be thinking of all you folk in the cold north!

Hey, LP pasty cammers and Judy in Chesaning: You got my attention, Judy, about the 75 warning. Problem is, I don't listen to the radio. Local tv had nothing about it. I plan to head north around Feb 12. Can go earlier or later depending on the weather, but you never know on 75. (only dread the drive on 75!) Am thinking of an alternate "overland" route. (that term comes from growing up in Detroit when the first expressway, the Lodge, was built. In parts it was lowered rather than rising to bridges. So existing streets were called 'surface' roads. When 75 first headed north to Mackinac, non-expressways were called 'overland.')

Anyway, is there a good non-expressway route that anyone can recommend from Commerce (northwest of Detroit, relatively near 23) to the straits? I'll be staying at the straits, so time is not an issue. Thanks!

http://up-basketball.com/ Does anyone know if this site is up and running(pun) this winter...Second question...did I see right that Michagamme beat Ishpeming in BB over the weekend????? this was an impossibility before the mines all closed as one was Class B and the other Class D..

No LES here, but we set warm records thanks to the pineapple express yesterday and today. Mid 60's. Nice change from the freezing rain last weekend.

Just came in from shoveling 6" or so of happiness off my walkways. I must say that the temps have improved but the snow seems heavy and wet.

Great shot. I can almost feel the sensation of standing there taking the picture. Thanks for helping me daydream about being back home.

To Maija in Commerce; you could go over to 127 in Lansing and go North from there to Grayling befor rejoing I 75. Godd mix of driving divided highway and some freeway like conditions. Lots of towns along the way to stop if you feel the urge.

Maija,
The drive along the lake on the Lake Huron side is a lovely drive to the bridge. We drove it on an overcast day and it was pretty lonesome looking. It's probably lovely on a sunny day!

Hey that looks like that was taken by my house!

Lake Effect is the 6th. Great Lake.

Who is this LES guy everone is talking about?

peterson/escanaba: that would be vitamin D the sun provides.

Thanks, everybody. I've looked at a map and not seen a good straight route. Will watch the weather on the internet and do what I can to avoid the bad spots on 75.

Right now Vicki Rae's suggestion sounds pretty good. I've driven that way, but not all the way to the straits--always thought of doing that, though.

If anyone else has ideas; I am open to them.

Whew! That Houghton Bridge looks pretty chilly tonight.

What is LES?
aka: SNOW
Wonder how California is holding up after all of that OER, or Ocean-effect-rain.
Unnecessary and extraneous syllables for the drama-impaired weather junkies, I say.
Just watch out for that pond-effect-fog! Could be dangerous.
Have to move to Death Valley where they have that No-Lake-effect-dry.

Maija..I also recommend the Lake Huron route to Mackinaw City. It is beautiful with many lovely towns and lighthouses to see along the way. It is primarily two lane, but an excellent road. Never too far away from a town or village. It is "the road less traveled", but my choice any day!

Lake Effect Snow??? I thought is was Lake DEFECT Snow!

holy wah what a picture eh

Haha that ILMHitCC guy is really a comedian eh?

My husband is out now grooming the foot of snow that we got today on snowmobile trails for the CHIPPEWA SNOW CHASERS. He won't be home until 3am. We retired near Lake Superior in the U.P. of Michigan six years ago so that we could snowmobile whenever we wished. I cannot describe how beautiful it is here. We have about 2 1/2 feet of snow and love it. This is the good life.

re: non I 75 to the Straits....try the old traditional route north from the Detroit area before the I 75 era: M15 thru Clarkston and Vassar to Bay City, M13 Bay City to Standish (old US 23), old M76 from Standish thru West Branch and Roscommon to just south of Grayling (now just a county road type hwy), old US 27 up thru Grayling and Gaylord to Indian River (again, now just good county road type hwy), M27 Idian River to Cheboygan (od US 27), and then US 23 from Cheboygan to Mackinaw. Between Bay City and Pontiac the even more tried and tru route used M13 to Saginaw (was US 23), and the old US 10 Dixie
Highway from Saginaw on down (Dort Hwy "bypass" thru Flint).
Try it, you might like it! I follow the old routes all the time....lotsa nostalgia and not nearly as boring as the drive down I 75. Plus, these are all good roads, as they once were the main routes. Nowadays, other than some local traffic in the Flint/Saginaw/Bay City area....the old traditional route North is generally sans any traffic...they are all over on I 75!

Jim, have driven that route many times. Beautiful! Another route is to pick up 65 off 23 and head north through Hale, etc. Zig zag up to Cheboygan through some beautiful country. The only problem is the hills. Of course, there are salt barrels at the bottom of most of them!!!

I WANNA GO SOME PLACE WARM!!!!!!!

Wow.wow Jim does that ever bring back the memories of how to get up north thru the back country.