 From the initial planning stages , proponents and opponents speculated that the large size of the reservoir created by the dam could affect the weather in Interior Alaska and the Yukon . Several studies were conducted in regards to these potential changes , and most of the reports hypothesized an effect similar to the weather that occurs around Great Slave Lake and Lake Baikal , both of which were of similar sizes and latitudes to the proposed reservoir . Forecasts predicted the lake would hold in heat longer during the autumn , thus keeping area temperatures slightly warmer than normal . In the spring , however , the area around the lake would have been prone to increased precipitation due to the phenomenon of lake @-@ effect snow . In the summer , the long periods of daylight would have caused the land around the lake to become warmer than the lake itself , also creating the possibility of storms . 
