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This is a visible satellite image taken from about 23,000 miles in space. The white areas are actually clouds that have developed in response to the warming air at about 1:15 PM local time. The green arrows represent the forecast surface winds from the MM5 mesoscale numerical model across the area. For the most part, the wind direction is from the west, and those areas just downwind of the cold lakes are cloud free. A number of years ago NWS forecasters and other local researchers coined those cloud free areas as an "oasis" of sunny skies, hence the term "Oasis Effect". |