Local Climate near the Small Lake

Abstract

Local climate near a small lake (smaller than 200 km2) was investigated in this study. Air temperature distribution and the wind system near Lake Toya, Hokkaido, Japan, were measured in winter. The lake effect on the wind system over Lake Toya and surrounding regions was remarkable in a calm night. The wind near the ground blew toward the lake from surrounding regions at night. But, in the daytime, the wind direction near the ground was the same as the gradient wind. The lake effect on the air temperature distribution at the shoreline was observed both in the daytime and at night. Air temperature of the onshore-wind on the northern shore was about 2°C higher than that of offshore wind on the southern shore of Lake Toya in the daytime. The regional fluctuation of air temperature was remarkable at night. The locational difference of air temperature was about 5°C at its maximum. © 1978, The Society of Agricultural Meteorology of Japan. All rights reserved.