Lake Superior

[arcticgeorge]

Hi John, With this unusually warm fall here in the Western UP is the temperature of the big lake running warm?..... I did try to find some numbers but couldn't find a simple chart. I was talking to some older friends that moved up here 20 years ago and they cant remember such a warm Thanksgiving.....So is the Lake running warm? and will it lead to big LES once the the weather allows? Thanks again.

 

[jd]

Lake Superior water temps are running in the low 40's right now with a lake-wide average of 41.67 degrees. I don't have averages for this time of the year, but would guess that those temps are a few degrees (2-4) above average for this time of the year, which would match up well with the air temperature departures for the region, which are running 3 degrees above average at the Houghton County Airport for both the month of November so far and also since September 1st.

The lake being a few degrees warmer than average will generally not lead to a big increase in the amount of LES produced. Other than the lake being ice free, the main determinant in LES formation is what the atmosphere is doing.

As for warm Thanksgivings, we also had one 6 years ago. It was our first year here at the cabin and we took a walk with just light jackets on in the afternoon, with temps in the 50's as well.

-John