During the winter, our minds naturally turn to the cold and snow because it’s, well, cold and snowy. But what causes the most extreme cold and snow?

In this episode of Teach Me About the Great Lakes, titled “That Long Fetch Setup,” Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant’s Stuart Carlton and Carolyn Foley talk with Tom Coomes, chief meteorologist for ABC 57 in South Bend, Indiana. Coomes explains the polar vortex, lake-effect snow and the importance of learning from your mistakes.

 

Teach Me About the Great Lakes is a monthly podcast in which Carlton—a social scientist who grew up in the South near the Gulf of Mexico—asks people to explain the biology, ecology and natural history of the Great Lakes. A new episode will be released on the first Monday of each month. The latest episode is embedded below. 

 

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If you have questions you want answered about the Great Lakes, reach out to @TeachGreatLakes on Twitter or email Stuart Carlton at jsc@purdue.edu.

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is a part of University of Illinois Extension and Purdue Extension.