Great Lakes Ice Update.

Well it was an interesting thread but now is the time to stick a fork in it...

"Great Lakes Finally Ice-Free After Record Ice Longevity"



"With summer just around the corner, the Great Lakes are officially free of ice for the first time in seven months.

While only weeks ago, chunks of ice could be seen floating on the lakes as residents and visitors flocked to the waters for Memorial Day, as of June 6, the lakes were classified as ice-free.

"This year is the longest we've seen ice on Lake Superior in our 40 years of records," Physical Scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration George Leshkevich said.

Following one of the coldest winter's on record for the region with temperatures from Jan. 1 to April 1 averaging seven degrees below normal, the Great Lakes hit their second highest ice coverage on record, reaching 92.19 percent on March 6, 2014.

Moving into the spring season, more than one-third or 38 percent, of the Great Lakes remained covered in ice in mid-April, causing major problems for the steel industry as the business relied on the waterways for shipping and transporting goods and materials.

"There are no years in the last 30 years that are even close to that, so it's very unusual this late in the season to have that much ice coverage," AccuWeather.com Lead Long-Range Forecaster Paul Pastelok said.

The last time the ice coverage on the lakes lasted nearly this long was in 2003, when the last of the ice cleared on May 29, according to Leshkevich.

However, moving farther into the spring season, temperatures began to increase in May, aiding in diminishing the ice coverage on the lakes.

"The air temperature, currents of the water and the water temperatures all play apart in melting the ice," Public Affairs Specialist for the 9th Coast Guard District in Cleveland, Levi Read said.

Since May 1, average temperatures in the Ironwood, Michigan, region have trended slightly above normal with daytime highs in the low 70s and overnight lows in the low 50s.

Aside from rising temperatures across the area, the Coast Guard has been working hard since the beginning of December to break up the ice on the lakes, according to Read.

About a month longer than normal, the service finished ice breaking in the middle of May, Read stated.

Despite the increase in temperatures for the areas surrounding the lakes, the longevity of the cold and the extent of the ice coverage so late into the spring will hinder water temperature recovery.

Currently, the warmest of the lakes, Lake Erie is averaging daily temperatures between 60 and 65 F but the coldest lake has temperatures in the 40s.

"The water is still very, very cold and it's very dangerous for people to go out and get in it," Read said. "The Coast Guard considers anything below 72 F a cold water rescue."

Swimming in water below 70F can induce a life-threatening health condition known as immersion hypothermia. As water takes heat away from the body almost 25 times faster than air, this condition develops much more quickly than standard hypothermia.

With lake temperatures still lagging as the official start to summer approaches, the prolonged water temperature recovery may have a huge impact on the summer weather for the region including some of the United State's major cities, such as Cleveland, Detroit and Buffalo, New York.

"It's going to affect the overall atmosphere around the region," Pastelok said. "It may be a bit on the cooler side."

In addition to cooler weather for the Great Lakes area, slow-recovering lake temperatures could lead to less severe weather near the lakes and more widespread fog."

MM

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/great-lakes-ice-free-at-last/28517527
 
Colder June water temps for sure. The surface water temp is only 36.8 F as of 6/15/14, about 10 degrees below the usual this time of year.

IMG_8187sm.jpg
 
Any news on fog in the Frankfort/Leland area due to the cold water? We were boating off Grand Haven last Thursday to try out a new radar and chart plotter. Heavy, dense advection fog created zero visibility conditions. I'm getting ready to move the boat up north. Don't mind a little fog but don't want to run 120 miles in pea soup. How are cruising conditions around the Leland area?
 
For those of you who do not like snow, frozen Great Lakes mean no snow and a return to sunshine. We are having sunny, blue sky days here now. February can be a beautiful month as sunshine returns and the days become longer.
fullsizeoutput_e59.jpeg
 
Here is a link to a webcam that is at the Christian Island ferry terminal at Cedar Point on Georgian Bay. Normally in a colder year the ferry shuts down and people drive to the island on the ice. Not this year. Ferry ran all winter. Not much ice left already and with 50-60 degree weather for a few days the melt will be on
http://74.116.216.146/viewer/live/en/live.html
 
sbw1 said:
For those of you who do not like snow, frozen Great Lakes mean no snow and a return to sunshine. We are having sunny, blue sky days here now. February can be a beautiful month as sunshine returns and the days become longer. View attachment 99668
Click to expand...
I don't even want to know what it costs to heat that beautiful old home!!
 
Lot of fishing boats out in saginaw river yesterday.
 
Ice is close to being gone in Milwaukee McKinley Marina. This wind should take care of it soon. Come on Spring!
 
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