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Lake Effect
Tales of Large Lakes, Arctic Winds, and Recurrent Snows
Mark Monmonier
Cloth $24.95
| 978-0-8156-1004-5
| 2012
"Mark Monmonier has delighted readers for years with book after book showing how geography and
weather have shaped human history. . . . He’s turned his flair for narrative to the story of the lakeeffect weather that rules his native upstate New York. . . . Enter his world and you’ll be glad you did."—William H. Hooke, Policy Program Director, American Meteorological Society
Praise for Monmonier’s book, How to Lie with Maps . . .
"An artful and funny book, which like any good map,
packs plenty in little space."—Scientific American
"Clear, easy to read, and sparkles with erudite humor."—Geographical Review
"A reading of this book will leave you much better
defended against cheap atlases, shoddy journalism,
unscrupulous advertisers, predatory special-interest
groups, and others who may use or abuse maps at your
expense."—Christian Science Monitor
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Mark Monmonier is Distinguished Professor of Geography at Syracuse University.
He is the author of fifteen books, including How to Lie with Maps; Air Apparent:
How Meteorologists Learned to Map, Predict, and Dramatize Weather; Spying
with Maps: Surveillance Technologies and the Future of Privacy; and Coast Lines:
How Mapmakers Frame the World and Chart Environmental Change.
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Blending meteorological history with the history of scientific cartography,
Monmonier charts the phenomenon of lake-effect snow and explores
the societal impacts of extreme weather. Along the way, he introduces
readers to natural philosophers who gradually identified this distinctive
weather pattern, to tales of communities adapting to notoriously disruptive
storms, and to some of the snowiest regions of the country.
Characterized by intense snowfalls lasting from a couple of minutes
to several days, lake-effect snow is deposited by narrow bands of clouds
formed when cold, dry arctic air passes over a large, relatively warm
inland lake. With perhaps only half the water content of regular snow,
lake snow is typically light, fluffy, and relatively easy to shovel. Intriguing
stories of lake effect’s quirky behavior and diverse impacts include
widespread ignorance of the phenomenon in the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries. Since then a network of systematic observers have
collected several decades of data worth mapping, and reliable shortterm
predictions based on satellites, Doppler radar, and computer models
are now available.
Moving effortlessly from atmospheric science to anecdotes, Monmonier
offers a richly detailed account of a type of weather that has long
been misunderstood. Residents of lake-effect regions, history buffs, and
weather junkies alike will relish this entertaining and informative book.
View other books from Around the State, New York State
6 x 9, 272 pages, 14 black-and-white illustrations,
59 maps, 9 graphs, notes, bibliography, index
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