Adirondack microclimates

[Grey-Jay]

The Adirondack region is so vast, that of course, various weather systems moving across northern NY affect only portions of the area at any one time.

I have noticed however, that even when a huge pleasant high pressure system dominates all of northern NY or the state, there is one particular Adirondack area that seems to always be cloudy and drizzly. I assume the reason is that its modest topography is still elevated enough to create its own microclimate of anything moving west to east. I am referring to the northern Fulton County-southern Hamilton County area along Rt 29A and Rt 10,basically from Caroga Lake to Piseco Lake. No matter how sunny it might be in Gloversville, Wells, or even Speculator, this area (that I do like to paddle or hike at) is just weather depressing to me with almost every visit being overcast. and rainy when it is not even supposed to be. Every time I visit, with overall good weather in upstate NY, this region's weather is just plain depressing.

Likewise, the eastern Adirondacks east of the Northway, Pharoah lake, Lake George, etc. often have sunshine while the rest of the Dacks are just general overcast. Clearly, any moisture moving west to east is gone by the time it moves over the higher elevation central Adirondacks.

[Bill I.]

Likewise, the eastern Adirondacks east of the Northway, Pharoah lake, Lake George, etc. often have sunshine while the rest of the Dacks are just general overcast. Clearly, any moisture moving west to east is gone by the time it moves over the higher elevation central Adirondacks.

A pretty good assessment. This difference in weather is even more pronounced in winter, if and when the lake-effect snow machine gets rolling. When the Old Forge area is getting hammered with snow, all I have to do is drive east for an hour on NY 8 to Speculator and the skies dry up. The eastern Adirondacks get their snow from Atlantic storms.

While the Adirondacks may not have the same elevation profile as western mountain ranges, the effects they have on the weather are roughly the same. Moisture comes in from the west, reaches the higher terrain, falls down as rain or snow (mostly rain these days), and then dries out on the eastern slopes. I've heard that the West Canada Lake plateau, elevation ~2400 feet, is one of the rainiest spots in the Adirodacks.

There are several manifestations of this phenomenon. The most striking is the fact that pretty much all of the acidified lakes in the park are in the western region. Those east of the central axis are generally healthy. I have also noticed subtle changes in vegetation from west to east, too, such as the presence of black cherry in old burn areas in the western regions, and paper birch in old burn areas in the eastern regions. My informal observation has been that the two species don't overlap very much.

[chairrock]

If ya don't like the weather in the ADKs, blink.It is sure to change that fast...

[Paul Held]

Interesting Observation

I've always thought that it only rained on me in Adirondacks while the rest of the Northeast had sun. At least it isn't personal. I can't tell you how many times the only sun I would see would be when I drove out of the ADK park. Paul

[adkdremn]

For those of us that travel quite a distance for a weekend up there it always seems like Sunday is the best weather day while we're on our way home!

[lumberzac]

I've always thought that it only rained on me in Adirondacks while the rest of the Northeast had sun. At least it isn't personal. I can't tell you how many times the only sun I would see would be when I drove out of the ADK park. Paul

Ever been to Vermont? It rains there all the time due to moisture getting picked up from Lake Champlain and then that moist air getting lifted up when hitting the Greens.

[Paul Held]

Ever been to Vermont? It rains there all the time due to moisture getting picked up from Lake Champlain and then that moist air getting lifted up when hitting the Greens.

Been there... I live there. During the summer its nice in the valley and rains in the mountains. Makes for nice snow in the winter though. Paul

[toothlessannie]

"While the Adirondacks may not have the same elevation profile as western mountain ranges, the effects they have on the weather are roughly the same. Moisture comes in from the west, reaches the higher terrain, falls down as rain or snow (mostly rain these days), and then dries out on the eastern slopes."

That phenomenon is know as adiabatic cooling (and warming) Rising air experiences a drop in temperature, even though no heat is lost to the outside. The drop in temperature is a result of the decrease in atmospheric pressure at higher altitudes. (Subsiding air is just the opposite.) Thus the Tug Hill area gets a lot of snow from the moisture laden air coming off Lake Ontario and rising over the plateau, similarly the western ADK's.

[Neil]

I've even noticed that Cascade is often buried in a cloud while just down the hill in Keene the weather's fine.

An additional factor that might contribute to the varying degrees of lake acidification is the different buffering capacities of different types of rocks. There's a section on it in the Adirondack Atlas.

[Bill I.]

An additional factor that might contribute to the varying degrees of lake acidification is the different buffering capacities of different types of rocks. There's a section on it in the Adirondack Atlas.

Very true, but pretty much all Adirondack rocks and soils are essentially incapable of buffering acid deposits for very long. Many soils are naturally acidic to begin with.

There are many factors that can contribute to a lake's acidification: its size, the size of its watershed, its flush rate, etc. Snowmelt in the spring can be more harmful than a summer rain.

[thuja]

While the Adirondacks may not have the same elevation profile as western mountain ranges, the effects they have on the weather are roughly the same. Moisture comes in from the west, reaches the higher terrain, falls down as rain or snow (mostly rain these days), and then dries out on the eastern slopes. I've heard that the West Canada Lake plateau, elevation ~2400 feet, is one of the rainiest spots in the Adirodacks.

One of the things that bugs me about easterners talking about "the west" is that they often don't make important distinctions. In this case, the distinction is that between the mountains of the interior west (northern and southern Rockies, Canadian Rockies) and those of the coastal west (Sierra Nevada, Cascades, Olympics, BC coast ranges). The coastal mountains have very pronounced "wet" and "dry" sides, with very steep moisture gradients far exceeding anything found in eastern NA. In WA the range between wettest west side (Olympics) and the sagebrush steppe on the east side is between 200+ inches and probably 6. A difference of more than 20 to 1. The gradients in BC, and California are also big. Essentially *all* the moisture-bearing weather comes from the west.

By contrast in the northern and southern rockies there really isn't a wet/dry E/W pattern. No rainshadow, just an elevational gradient. Wet heights, dry low country.

The "interior wet belt" of BC--the Columbia Mts, selkirks, purcells, monashees--, as well as the north end of the Idaho panhandle, is intermediate between these patterns.

Compare the wettest place in New England and the Adirondacks to the dryest, and you're probably talking 2-1. No more. And it's probably mostly elevational gradient. Champlain valley to ADK and Green Mt summits, say.

I suspect that the absence of strong E/W gradients in New England and the interior west is due to moisture-bearing winds from multiple directions. For sure the orographic precip effect is still there, based as it is on physical laws. I like your conjecture about the precip in the E Adirondacks coming from Atlantic moisture, whereas the W adirondacks gets moisture from westerlies. I think in the southern rockies the pattern is that winter weather comes from the W, but summer precip in the form of thunderstorms comes up from the S