Lake Michigan’s ice cover hit 37% last week and has appeared in the form of pancakes, balls and, in some northern fishing locations, chunks more than a foot thick.
Ice coverage may be nearing its peak throughout the Great Lakes in a season that has trended closer to average than originally forecast, as Lake Michigan’s water levels are expected to continue their decline well below the string of monthly record highs reached a few years ago.
“We’re still trending right around that average line,” said James Kessler, physical scientist with NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab. “There’s still some time to reach higher ice cover.” Less coverage can assist in commercial shipping. It can also fuel lake-effect snow and pose challenges to fish spawning, winter recreation and eroding shorelines already vulnerable to storms.
The monthly mean for Lake Michigan, measured together with Lake Huron, was about 11 inches above the long-term average, but 26 inches below the monthly record high“We’re still above average, but we’re lower than the record high and we’re still tracking lower than last year,” said Deanna Apps, a physical scientist with the Army Corps of Engineers.
From December to January, Lake Michigan declined about 4 inches. The Lake Michigan and Huron basin received less than an inch of precipitation in January, according to the Army Corps’ report, well below average.
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