The Lake-Induced Convection Experiment and the Snowband Dynamics Project

A severe 5-day lake-effect storm resulted in eight deaths, hundreds of inju ries, and over $3 million in damage to a small area of northeastern Ohio an d northwestern Pennsylvania in November 1996. In 1999, a blizzard associate d with an intense cyclone disabled Chicago and much of the U.S. Midwest wit h 30-90 cm of snow. Such winter weather conditions have many impacts on the lives and property of people throughout much of North America. Each of the se events is the culmination of a complex interaction between synoptic-scal e, mesoscale, and microscale processes. An understanding of how the multiple size scales and timescales interact is critical to improving forecasting of these severe winter weather events. T he Lake-Induced Convection Experiment (Lake-ICE) and the Snowband Dynamics Project (SNOWBAND) collected comprehensive datasets on processes involved i n lake-effect snowstorms and snowbands associated with cyclones during the winter of 1997/98. This paper outlines the goals and operations of these co llaborative projects. Preliminary findings are given with illustrative exam ples of new state-of-the-art research observations collected. Analyses asso ciated with Lake-ICE and SNOWBAND hold the promise of greatly improving our scientific understanding of processes involved in these important winterti me phenomena.