In winter, Colorado-track lows typically bring heavier snowfall to the Great Lakes than do Alberta-track lows? -

Explain why in winter, Colorado-track lows typically bring heavier snowfall to the Great Lakes than do Alberta-track lows.

The heaviest snows happen on the north and west side of the low due to the fact that the low is bringing in the moisture and the warm air from the south and it wraps around to the northwest side therebye making it colder air with the moisture. Hence, you get the thunderstorms on the east and south side, and heavy snow on the west side. So thats a little about how lows work which is needed for this question:Alberta clippers as you speak of usually track quickly because they are linked with the jet stream (fast winds in the upper atmosphere) and thus heavy snow is hard to get anyways- but they usually track too far north for any of the us to get on that northwest side of the low (thats why there canadian clippers) In addition, they are usually cutoff from a moisture source (the Gulf or Pacific) and thus dont have much to let loose with when it snows- and most melts before it hits the surface in the clouds. Note- they wouldnt even be known, but they happen so much that 2-5 inches are typical about once or twice a week. They also tend to go over the warmer lakes and thus lake enhanced snow make the storm stronger. Colorado storms typically are not linked with the jet stream and thus move slower and have time to dump more snow- and also track further south into the us which allows portions of the us such as Colorado, NB, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, etc to get into that northwest side so critical to temperatures and snow. Hope that helps!