Toronto / Pickering - Canada

Surrounded by the Great Lakes of North America (NZ will fit a few times in this massive water basin  has its pros and cons.......

Knowing the water supply is good for approx. 21% of the total Earth Fresh Water amount (it's expected that in the (far) future the price of Fresh Water will reach the same as Oil today  weather wise it offers many surprises...!!!

Take a look at the attached Radar picture (courtesy Intellicast) taken today, first day of Spring - March 20 2013..

It's called "Lake Effect".
So how does this work???

Since this winter temperatures haven't been constantly sub-sub-sub zero, the water of the Great Lakes is NOT frozen all over, and still 'relatively' "warm" compared to outside temperatures.....
Our majority of Wind direction is N - NW, so Mr (or Mrs) Wind says: " Hey, let's pick up some "warm" water from Lake Superior, Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, and take it in our path towards South-Western Ontario, and then dump it in the form of Snow....
Those bands are called "Snow Squalls", a typical weather pattern in winter, but very tricky for motorists.
They often cover only a few kilometers (see picture), so  one time you're driving in FULL Sunshine, the next moment visibility is absolutely "zero" and you're in a blast of SNOW..!!

Today was the same: Nice Sunshine at times in the afternoon and the next moment you look outside in the midst of a "Snow storm", however, it disappears as quickly as it comes.....

So, that's the "Lake Effect" in Winter for Toronto - Ontario.

Summer time has a different 'surprise', mainly in the form of extreme humidity and humidex temperatures (reaching + 45 C...)
Now I wish we were there already.. 

Cheers,

Arthur