It’s been snowing the last several days, but how much snow you’ve seen has depended on your location in the Capital Region.

What You Need To Know

  • Elevation and temperature on mountains play a role in the occurrence of precipitation

  • The orographic effect is why snow has been more persistent at higher elevations

  • There are multiple mountainous areas in the Capital Region that have an influence

Snow showers have been persistent throughout the weekend and into this week, but the amount of snow we’ve seen across the area has not been consistent. We’re stuck under a weather pattern that is likely to continue bringing us snow showers through the end of the workweek. 

Many in the Capital Region have been seeing snow, but it’s been more decorative and not all that impactful to travel for the most part. But if you live in or travel through locations at higher elevations, specifically the mountains, snow showers have been heavier and more persistent, producing higher totals and impacts. 

The reason for this is the influence of mountains on our weather. Elevation and temperature have a co-dependent role in the development of precipitation. 

As water vapor approaches a mountain, it gets lifted up to the colder peaks. As elevation goes up, temperature goes down, causing this water vapor to cool. When this water vapor cools enough, it condenses into clouds. 

The colder the air temperature gets, the harder it becomes for these clouds to hold their water, which eventually leads to precipitation. This is called the orographic effect. In our case lately, the precipitation formed in part by the orographic effect has been snow. 

The orographic effect occurs on the windward side of mountains. In our case, winds have been flowing from the west, leading to the creation of snow on the west side of the mountains. 

The Capital Region and surrounding areas are diverse with multiple hills and mountain chains. The best example is the Adirondacks and their neighboring Tug Hill Plateau. With a west wind and lots of moisture coming off Lake Ontario, some intense lake-effect snow has been occurring.

The highest totals have been in the Tug Hill and Adirondacks in comparison to the surrounding areas at lower elevation because of the orographic effect.

Other good examples are areas east of the Capital Region at the Rensselaer Plateau, Green Mountains, and Berkshires. Areas in and around Albany and the Hudson River Valley have generally been finding low impact or no snow, while snow showers were consistent at these higher elevations. Areas in the Heldebergs, Catskills, and Taconics have been experiencing the orographic effect as well.

We find opportunities for snow through the rest of the week, but we should start to see drier weather by the weekend.