Did You Know Michigan Has Lake Effect Rain?

Living next to Lake Michigan is a double-edged sword. On one hand, we're super spoiled having so many beaches so close. There's nothing better than having a hot day and deciding to cool out on the Lake.

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However, the lake doesn't have the same draw during the winter when everyone is being dumped on with snow, thanks to the lake-effect snow generated from the lake. If the lake is generating more snow because of the lake water, wouldn't that mean those areas affected by the water would also get lake-effect rain? 

⬇️VIEW THE RAINFALL TOTALS IN GRAND RAPIDS SINCE 2000⬇️

What Causes Rain?

Before we get into lake effect rain, let's first briefly recap what causes rain to begin with. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) gives this short answer:

Clouds are made of water droplets. Within a cloud, water droplets condense onto one another, causing the droplets to grow. When these water droplets get too heavy to stay suspended in the cloud, they fall to Earth as rain.

The Great Lakes provide plenty of water that gets evaporated into the clouds, making the clouds plump with water.

How Does The Great Lakes Affect Rain?

Lake effect rain is a real phenomenon; however, the lakes don't always affect the rain. If you live on the lake, you'll know you don't constantly have lake effect cloud coverage. There needs to be specific conditions for the Lakes to affect the rain.

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According to Meteorologist Anna Meyers, there are two conditions needed for the lakes to influence rainfall.

1. The lake water needs to be hotter than the land
2. Cold wind blows over the warm lake

The difference between these temperatures, supported by the wind, tends to generate the conditions needed for rainfall. How much rain falls depends on the temperature difference between the land and the lake.

Lake effect rain is known to happen most often from August to November, while lake effect snow happens from December to March, as these are the periods with the largest differences in land and lake temperatures.

You can view the annual rainfall totals for Grand Rapids since 2000 below.