Lake frozen

[sp123]

if lake superior was frozen over like it has before would are temps get colder at night also becuase the lake couldnt influence the temps so much if it was frozen or would it still keep air temp warmer.

 

[matti]

Whoa, mix in a period every now and then!

 

[deang]

NOW INHALE

 

[admin]

Yes, once Lake Superior freezes over the lake can no longer provide heat to keep us warmer than the surrounding areas.

Back in 2003 when most of the lake was froze, we had a string of days with temps of -25 in the morning.

-John

 

[6mile]

How close is the lake to Freezing over this year? Is there still a link to the ice coverage map?

 

[sp123]

yes there is a try look for satellite pics on noaa website. i no the lake is about 10 percent frozen

 

[admin]

I don't go by the ice cover maps that much as they will take into consideration any kind of ice, not just the fast ice that keeps LES from forming.

I go by satellite and best I could tell this afternoon, still lots of open water out there.

-John

 

[greggk]

Welcome Back John. I had read that Superior has frozen over for only the second time in the last decade (2003). Is this true and what link can you suggest to see it? Thanks, Gregg

 

[frnash]

Marquette NWS doesn't have a link to a satellite image of Lake Superior today, but there's a pair of 'em from this past weekend on PastyCam's Cam notes for Sunday, March 8, 2009.

 

[admin]

greggk-

I can personally verify that Lake Superior is not 100% frozen over. I saw water as I was flying back into town on Saturday. With that said it looks to be about 80-85% ice covered and you can pretty much write off any hopes of lake effect from it for the rest of the season.

The link I like to use is from the Great Lakes Environmental Lab. Looks like it has not been updated for a few days though.

-John

 

[frnash]

I have to agree with John's recommendation of the GLERL web site. It is really the only useful source for satellite pictures of the lake. The only problem is that it can be a bit frustrating when all that it shows for days on end is extensive cloud cover.

In this particular case, the pictures shown on good ol' PastyCam, as noted above, just happen to be both relatively recent and almost cloud free.

 

[frnash]

Here's an interesting chart from the National Ice Center as of Thursday, March 05, 2009: Great Lakes Ice Chart Based on Estimated Thickness in Inches. (a JPG image)

Of course it's only an estimate, but it shows most of Lake Superior north & west of the Keweenaw at 12-18", with maybe 2-6" near Isle Royale, and 6-12" along the Minnesota shore and a few small areas (e.g. on the near north shore of the Keweenaw) of < 2", and apparently no ice free water anywhere in Lake Superior! (FWIW)