Super-snowy winter will boost Great Lakes water levels
The Great Lakes are making a comeback.
Record-breaking snow, ice cover and cold temperatures this winter will mean rising Great Lakes water levels over the next six months — but don't expect too dramatic a recovery.
The unusually deep, unusually water-heavy snowpack that's melting and feeding the lakes is expected to help them continue to rebound from years of record-low water, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' six-month forecast reports.
If accurate, the forecast would mark a second year of improving lake levels and a comeback from the record lows recorded on Lakes Michigan and Huron early last year.
That means much-needed good news for marinas, beach-goers and the shipping industry in Michigan -- but it won't be a huge improvement for boaters who've endured recent years of unusable docks and closed marina slips.
Among the findings:
- Through spring and summer, connected lakes Michigan and Huron are expected to have water levels up 9 to 14 inches from a year ago, but will still be 9 to 12 inches below the lakes' long-term average.
- Lake Superior is forecast for levels 13 inches above a year ago, and could rise to 1 inch above its long-term average for March — the first time the lake could exceed its monthly average since 1998.
- Lake Erie is forecast to rise 2 to 6 inches above its levels of a year ago, but remain about 2 inches below its long-term average.
- Lake Ontario is expected to rise 2 inches above where it was in early spring last year, but to fall 5 to 7 inches below its levels of a year ago by the end of summer.
- Lake St. Clair is expected to rise 3 inches above its levels of last year, but will remain about 7 inches below its long-term average.
But the improvements don't eliminate Michigan's worries about low-water levels that have persisted since the late 1990s. Likes Michigan and Huron reached their lowest levels in January 2013.
The Great Lakes cover 94,000 square miles and contain 6 quadrillion gallons of water — that's 6,000 trillion gallons. And as of this week, they are under 91% ice-cover.