The Great Lakes may have a thunderous effect on your summer weather – The Weather Network

Lake breezes drive our daily storm threats

Lake breezes are a way of life around Ontario during the warmer months.

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Air warms up faster over the land than it does over the water. This land-warmed air rises in a hurry, forcing a refreshing breeze of lake-cooled air to rush inland to take its place.

During the heart of summer, a lake breeze often acts like a miniature cold front that scoops up the warm and moist air along its path. This process triggers thunderstorms that can occasionally produce severe weather over communities near the water.

Given the lack of ice this winter and the warmer temperature of the lakes right now, though, we may not see as many lake-breeze storms as usual this summer.

The warmer water will create less of a temperature difference between the lake and the land, which will reduce the potency of lake breezes pushing ashore.

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However, there is a flip side to this stormy equation.