Why doesn Long Island Sound create the same effect along the Westchester County shoreline?
First let me say that “lake-effect” snow does happen along the north shore of Long Island. This occurs when a strong northwest wind blows across the relatively warm waters of the Sound. Typically the snow produced by the sound doesn’t amount to more than flurries. In a few instances a couple of inches of snow has been known to pile up. And during area-wide snowstorms the north shore of LI will often get “Sound enhanced snow” which may add an extra few inches of accumulation to towns near the sound. Now more specifically, for Westchester County to get “Sound-effect snow” the wind would have to be from the opposite direction. Instead of NW the wind would have to blow from the southeast. While this wind could theoretically produce clouds and flurries it is not in any way a favorable wind. Why? Well a southeast wind is a warm wind. A warm wind over warm water is does not make for snow producing conditions. Jeff Berardelli What is an air mass? How do air masses generate our local weather? A
