Nyla Connell, “Influence of Snow Storms on Lake Michigan Thermodynamics”
Mentor: George Duffy, Atmospheric Sciences, Freshwater Sciences (School of)
Poster #109
The thermodynamics of large water bodies influence global temperatures, ecosystems, and weather patterns. While heat exchange between water and atmospheric factors like sunlight and wind is well-studied, the cooling effect of snowmelt on water remains less explored. In northern regions, heavy melting snow could have a strong impact on the water temperatures. For this study, we are using over 20 years of hourly temperature measurements from a mooring operation in the southern basin from NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory alongside NOAA historical daily climate summaries. We focused on December 2008 snowfall events, analyzing temperature changes following heavy accumulations. A snowfall of 0.249 m (9.8 in.) and 0.376m (14.8 in.) over two consecutive days led to surface temperature decreases of 0.072 K (0.1296 °F), while a lighter snowfall of 0.0838 m (3.3 in.) on the third day resulted in a 0.144 K (0.2592 °F) temperature decrease. These preliminary findings suggest a measurable but complex cooling effect and whether or not this decrease is impacted by other variables is ongoing. Further analysis across longer timescales and different depth levels is needed to determine the broader impact of snowmelt on lake temperature dynamics. This understanding is important as global temperatures and snowfall rates change, disruptions in the thermal cycles of water systems may lead to larger negative impacts on our surrounding environment.