# Topography, roads, and weather
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/topography-roads-and-weather/453072
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 16, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/topography-roads-and-weather/453072 "2008-06-16T02:39:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/topography-roads-and-weather/453072/1 "2008-06-16T02:39:22Z")
I live in the Cleveland-Akron area of Ohio. I-71 runs diagonally NE to SW, Cleveland to Columbus to Cincinnati (or vice versa).
Weather fronts very frequently parallel I-71. I’m watching the storm front heading our way tonight. Go to [weather.com](http://weather.com) and enter 44691 as the ZIP code, and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
Is this just a coincidence, or could the topography that influences road placement also influence weather patterns (or vice versa)?
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### Author:  [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/topography-roads-and-weather/453072/2 "2008-06-16T11:23:47Z")
In your specific case I think it is just coincidental. The road happens to run roughly north/south and the fronts lie that way as well. You can get local weather patterns where a mountain range will cause a build-up of wet cloudy weather on the windward side. The same mountain range will have an effect on road placement, but that’s not what’s happening in your example.
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### Author:  [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/topography-roads-and-weather/453072/3 "2008-06-16T18:09:02Z")
The only topographic feature in Northeast Ohio that has a major effect on the weather is Lake Erie. The beach ridges play a very minor role in shaping microclimactic zones that are considered well-suited for horticulture and viticulture.
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### Author:  [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2008, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/topography-roads-and-weather/453072/4 "2008-06-16T18:20:36Z")
The thunder last night seemed to be coming from the _east_, which was very peculiar. I’m just up the 77-road a piece from **freckafree**. Our weather always comes from the west, almost always northwest.