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Ice covers most of Lake Erie, but it’s not safe
More than 80 percent of Lake Erie is covered in ice, but officials in both Michigan and Ohio are cautioning fishermen and others to stay off.
“Just because it’s covered in ice doesn’t make it safe,” said Wendy Stevens, chief of the Frenchtown Township Fire Department. “The ice is not safe. Stay off.”
While the formation and depth of Lake Erie ice depends on weather conditions, the days of ice breaking often result in anglers and others getting stranded on ice floes. Just this week in Erie Township, a man who was crossing the ice on foot had to be rescued. That s only one of the examples in recent days in Michigan and Ohio where the ice melt became dangerous to people venturing out on the open lake.
Good news: Deep freeze adds to Lake Superior s ice coverage
The lake was experiencing historically low ice coverage earlier this winter, but that all changed with the recent cold snap.
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Credit: Melissa Turtinen
The recent cold snap is good news for Lake Superior.
On Feb. 6, ice coverage on the lake was less than 6%.
Here s a look from the International Space Station above Duluth and Lake Superior on Feb. 15:
Prior to this past week of arctic weather, the Great Lakes were nearing historic lows in terms of ice coverage, MPR News reported. In late January, only about 4% of Lake Superior was covered in ice, when the average that time of year is 20%.
Great Lakes ice cover: Down 22% on average since 1973
Great Lakes ice coverage in decline due to warming winters
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The winters are trending warmer in Michigan, and that means declining ice coverage on the Great Lakes.
According to data from Climate Central, across all the Great Lakes the annual maximum ice cover is, on average, 22% lower than it was a half-century ago. Furthermore, ice coverage is becoming less reliable, with more frequent years of extremely low ice coverage.
According to Climate Central, the long term decline in lake ice cover is driven by warming air and water temperatures due to climate change. The lake ice season is also contracting in many cases, with lakes now tending to freeze over later and thaw out sooner. Based upon ice coverage charts from the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab in Ann Arbor, ice cover on the five Great Lakes peaked at an average of 47% this winter (with shallow Lake Erie skewing the numbers upward with i
J. Carl Ganter / Circle of Blue
Originally published on February 5, 2021 8:32 am
Hope is waning for those who hoped to stick an ice shanty on Little Traverse Bay this winter.
The same goes for nearby Torch and Elk lakes, two large inland waters adjacent to the bay. At the height of Michigan winter, all three are so devoid of ice, fishing guide Jim Chamberlin said, “you could launch a boat out there.”
On the kettle lakes of Southeast Michigan, thin ice has law enforcement officials responding to an uptick in on-water emergencies and urging residents to think twice before venturing out to skate, fish or snowmobile.