Environment
Does Ice on the Great Lakes Always Mean a Colder Spring?
An analysis from past seasons calls that connection into question.
There's a belief in some corners of the weather community that more ice on the Great Lakes means a colder spring. If that's true, cities ringing these freezing-slush buckets are in for lasting misery: 84 percent of the lakes are now iced over, compared to the maximum coverage of 51 percent during an average winter.
Where's the science underlying this claim, though? During last year's brutal winter, Accuweather meteorologist Brett Anderson explained it's a matter of reflectivity: