Lake effect snow shot from space
Just thought I would share.
Thanks. Both elfbabe and I agree it’s cool. I’ve saved a copy!
We’re on the western shore of Lake Michigan, so don’t get hit with the lake effect too often.
Great site! It’s one of the few I visit every day. Check out the view from the top of the world on today’s panorama from Everest.
Wow.
Going through the archive has been possibly the best hour I’ve spent on the internet since Gore invented it.
Thanks, Shirley!
Great pic, Shirley Ujest! It doesn’t say what time of day that was taken, but here is a picture of the same phenomenon from a more horizontal angle on the same day. It is looking East-Southeast from the Door Peninsula in northern Lake Michigan, on the western shore. You can clearly see the cloud bands over the lake.
We usually get those kind of lake-effect clouds just at dawn on days in the Fall and early Winter when the temperature drops suddenly overnight with no wind, like when a cold front comes in. The extreme temperature difference between the lake and air produces some dramatic effects. Here’s an example from October 5, 2003, and another from January 6, 2004. The clouds typically dissipate as the sun rises.
Once again, why do I live in Michigan? Oh yeah, I like snow. At least, when it’s not March 7th and the snow won’t stop, I like snow.
I’d point out where I live, but you can’t see it, for all the snow.
I love Michigan.
Now only do we get some of the crappiest, darkest,poopiest weather overall which leads to potholes the size of a fiat, in fact we patch our potholes with these furren cars. we are recognizable from outerspace and are an easy map to show people where we live: * I live here! Third knuck over two freckles down* Don’t get that in Nebraska, huh, d’ya?
What we lack in celebrities, car chase scenes, interesting crime cases, extreme weather that merits global attention, we make up for in spades in other things to minor to make the CNN ticker.
w00t!
Well, maybe YOU can do that. I’m stuck trying to explain wtf the UP is. “No, we’re not close to Detroit. No, we’re not in Northern Michigan, we’re actually north of Northern Michigan. Y’know that piece of Michigan that looks like it should belong to Wisconsin? No? Have you ever looked at a map? OK: Michigan comes in two pieces. There’s a bridge between them, which is why people from Lower Michigan are called trolls. They live under the bridge, get it? No? <sigh> Let’s start over. You’ve heard of Wisconsin? Yes? OK, just assume I live in northern Wisconsin. Or Canada. Either is more accurate than Detroit.”
At least I’m used to it, having lived here a large part of my life. Poor Mr. Athena keeps thinking that people will have heard of the UP. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been on vacations where he tries to explain where we’re from, only to get a blank stare and “how nice.”
The ice fisherman vehicles, abandoned to their own shrinking iceburg more than makes up for any dearth of “conventional” chases.
Amateur. 
Just do what I do and use both hands. Right hand is the Lower Peninsula, as usual (fingers north, thumb right). Left hand, thumb up, fingers right, becomes the UP. The thumb is the Keweenaw peninsula. The rest is extrapolated from there. 
I’ve done that, but it doesn’t work for people who don’t know that Michigan has two parts. I do like how it makes the UP the same size as the LP, though.
For what it’s worth, once you get out of state and try to do the “mitten” thing to show people where stuff is in Michigan, more often than not they look at you like you’re nuts.
There is that. Kinda hard to do a map of the United States with your hands. And that doesn’t guarantee that the knucklehead your talking to knows the geography of the country he lives in either. 
Ah, what a lovely picture that makes me glad it’s almost spring!
Here’s another shot of lake effect snow, though it was taken from my driveway instead of from outer space.
On the off chance that this thread skews back to the cool images on the web and away from where da hell is da UPA (U P eh?)
I like this image of Mt St. Helen’s. There’s always the off chance that it will blow while you’re watching too!
Only now it looks like it’s OOO. Oh well… you say you live in the the upper penisula, eh?
A little joke you can play on people is to do the hand thing and say…
“This is where Bad Axe is” and pull in all fingers but the thumb, then say “This is where Traverse City is” and pull in all fingers but the pinky, then say, “This is where the Mackinac Bridge is” and pull in all fingers but the middle.
ha ha ha
Shows the sophisticated comedy we have in Michigan.
Anyway, this picture reminds me of the time National Geographic ran an infrared photo of the Detroit area. We were able to find our neighborhood in the picture.
First of all, that should be “Fiat”! Use yer damn shift key and show some respect! Second of all, that won’t work! You would still need to fill in the area that a hard top would occupy. Clearly this plan has not been well-thought through. No wonder your roads suck so much up there.
I know exactly what Michigan looks like and I would call the place you’re describing “Northern Michigan”. Maybe you’re expecting people to “get” local terminology and it’s just not going to happen. If I asked you where you were from and you said “da UP, eh!” I would, indeed, look at you like you were nuts.
If she used both hands, where would she put her beer?
Yooper Etiquette, man.
True Yoopers wear beer hats.
Cisco, that’s why I usually say “Upper Peninsula of Michigan”. No need to get more descriptive than that, I think.