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three of us transplants were wondering if there is more than one use of the term lake effect, such as dreaded lake effect and others.
The dictionary definition has a wind blowing across the lake and picking up moisture and warmth and droping the moisture on the downwind side as snow.
But here with the GSL, doesn't the term also have something to do with the stench caused by the lake's bottom roiling to the top?
What cause that and what is it called by the news?
Steve T.
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Great question, lake stink is nasty! You can tell when the wind has shifted for sure around SLC when that rolls into town.
Lake effect and "lake stink" (not a real term but you get the idea) are not the same. Lake effect snow does happen when wind moves over the lake and there's a large contrast between the warm lake temperature and the cold air temperature. Moisture is put into the clouds and falls out of them downstream. You can find a graphic of how this works on the right with the links.
Inside the Great Salt Lake there's a few things. Salt, Water and bring shrimp. While brine shrimp aren't what you eat for dinner there is a use for them and they are farmed and fished out. All the time though brine shrimp are living and dying. There's a lot of dead brine in the GSL. The GSL we must remember isn't like the ocean, it's way shallow! The deepest parts are only about 35 feet!
On a calm day the lake is pretty still but when the wind shifts and gets gusty, it can basically stir up the dead stuff in the lake and on the lake shores. The smell is from all of that decaying stuff and then the wind carries that gross odor over to the city and we can smell it here in downtown SLC and in other places along the Wasatch Front.
Lake effect snow and lake stink are not related. However, when you do get lake effect event, you can have lake stink at the same time but not necessarily every time.
In other cool GSL neat facts, the sand on the shores of the great salt lake is unique, it's oolytic sand. The center of it is the waste from the brine shrimp, then calcium deposits on it to form the sand. If you visit the lake shores you'll find all sorts of neat stuff like a ton of dead brine shrimp shells and pickle weed which yes, tastes like pickles but really not something you'd want to snack on.
Answered by KSL Meteorologist Dina Freedman.
