Alberta Clippers

Source: USA Today Weather: http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wclipper.htm

Here are some quick facts about Alberta Clippers. To learn more just click on the links:

1. An Alberta Clipper is an area of low pressure that forms over Alberta, Canada, east of the Rocky Mountains and then moves southeastward into the United States.

2. The main weather features associated with Alberta Clippers are some light snow and a reinforcement of cold air over the U.S.

3. However, if they make it to the Atlantic Ocean, and conditions are favorable, these systems can intensify and dump snow along the East Coast.

4. Meteorologists have developed several methods to help forecast the movement of an Alberta Clipper.

5. The Alberta low is not associated with a frontal feature.

6. The occurence of Alberta Clippers is likely to increase during La Nina years.

7. The name Alberta Clipper is believed to have originated from the high speed clipper sailing ships of the 1800's, which were the fastest vessels on the seas at one time. Alberta was added because these systems tend to form over Alberta, Canada.

Here are a list of sources that I used to compile this web page.

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