Weather in Embarrass

[maros91]

Why does the temps there get so dang cold compared to others? I have noticed this since I was a little kid but never really found out why. It will be like 5 degrees around there and then Embarrass will check in at -20. Why is this? Also is there a lake in town that gets early ice in like October because of this?

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Tower and Embarrass get much colder because they are at the base of the Laurentian Divide and are much LOWER then the surrounding country. Cold settles into the lowest elevation.

Much of this area is surrounded by spruce bogs which is as low as you can get without being a lake!

Cliff

[maros91]

Solid info. Thank you very much.

[SkunkedAgain]

As long as we're on the science trail, one more question. In other areas of the state, rain is more predictable than in the Vermilion and Boundary Waters areas. Do the number of lakes contribute more water vapor to the atmosphere, creating more erratic weather patterns?

[Steve Foss]

SA, I've noticed the same thing about the rain, and I don't know why.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

SA,

I am not sure on that one either, but they do get a lot different weather on the South side of the Divide then we get much of the time!

Cliff

[lakerunner]

Surprisingly, eventhough the Divide is really all not that high in elevation is does really change the weather. There is always a difference in the weather at my home in Eveleth to what we have at work in Cook. The water vapor is pushed upward when it hits the divide and then cools (same for the ambient air temp) thus causing it to rain (more on the northside if there is a south wind and vica versa). I just want to make one correction. A spruce bog doesn't necessarily mean lower evelations--it just means a lot of above surface ground water. Up north here, a lot of times, the water is a "perched" water table caused by rocks. I have seem many spruce bogs that are actually higher in elevation than a surround aspen stand. But you guys are correct in the effects of the Divide on the temps in Embarrass and Babbitt. It is also compounded by the "mtn" range that runs along 169.