Great Salt Lake
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Relative humidity, or RH, is a measure of the water in the air. At one hundred percent humidity the air is completely saturated and fog forms. But, at a lower RH this moisture is invisible.
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One of the strangest topographical features in the American west is The Great Salt Lake. It is an inland sea that is up to ten times as salty as the world's oceans and which covers more than 2300 square miles in northern Utah. The lake has its own, unusual weather systems, where it's high salinity plays an important role. Correspondent Jeff Rice reports.
If you ever get a chance to fly over the Great Salt Lake, or if you look at a satellite image here's something you might notice. It's actually two different colors. One side of the lake is a dark blue. The other is more of an emerald green. This has to do with the lake's variable salinity.
LD: Most of the freshwater sources that go into the lake come in from the south. So, the north arm of the lake is a lot saltier than the south arm of the lake.
According to National Weather Service meteorologist, Larry Dunn, this affects more than just the lake's color.
LD: How easily the vapor is transported from the water surface up into the air is actually reduced somewhat with freshwater compared to saltwater.
And it makes sense, he says, that you'll tend to see more storms where there is more evaporation.
LD: What we often see is that the band of precipitation forms south.
The south side will also get stronger sea breezes in the summer. Good for sailing, but sometimes when converging with thunderstorms these winds can be more then just strong. It may or may not be a coincidence that the rare tornado that struck Salt Lake City in August of 1999 formed on the south end of the lake.
Correspondent Jeff Rice reports from Boise, Idaho. The Weather Notebook is a production of the Mount Washington Observatory. Our program is supported by Subaru of America and The National Science Foundation. Related Links
More about the August 11, tornado in Salt Lake City
http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/misc/990811_ir3_java.html
http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/misc/990811.html
http://www.goodview.com/GoodPhoto/tornado1.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/1999/wtor811.htm