National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

 

Lake Winnebago and Lake Michigan Lake Effect Showers

 

The water temperature of Lake Winnebago is around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, or 21 degrees Celsius, while temperatures at 5 thousand feet are around 3 degrees Celsius.  This temperature difference causes unstable conditions that can result in shower development.  While a mid level trough created conditions favorable for showers, the unstable air over the warm waters of both Lake Winnebago and Lake Michigan produced several bands of rain showers.  While this is common over Lake Michigan, is more rare to occur from Lake Winnebago.

KMKX Radar Base Reflectivity Loop

This is a radar loop from Friday night (9/11) and early Saturday morning (9/12) that shows the lake effect rain showers downstream from Lake Winnebago and also over Lake Michigan.  The images are approximately 10 minutes apart from 9:50 pm to 1:33 am.


NWS Milwaukee/Sullivan

Hentz/Cronce