Thursday, March 6, 2014

Harsh Winter Causes Greatest Great Lakes Ice Coverage Since 1979

By Kristen Rodman, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer
March 6,2014; 4:18PM,EST
 
 
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NASA satellites captured this image of Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron and Lake Ontario on Feb. 19, 2014.
With an end in sight, the winter of 2014 rages on, ushering in frigid arctic air and dumping record-breaking snow and ice on much of the nation. This season, ice coverage on the Great Lakes has exceeded all other measurements since 1979.
"By a long shot, this is the most ice we've had on Lake Superior in 20 years," Associate Professor at the Large Lakes Observatory in Duluth, Minn., Jay Austin said.
During a typical winter, 30 to 40 percent of the Great Lakes are covered by ice, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson.

Usually arctic air swept over the Great Lakes creates lake-effect snow but modifies the air, making it warmer. This typically makes regions from Ohio through the Northeast a little warmer than it otherwise would be.
However, this winter 80 to 90 percent of the Great Lakes are covered in ice. As of Wednesday, March 5, 2014, the total Great Lakes basin was 91 percent covered, ranking the Great Lakes ice coverage this winter second in the overall rankings, according to Physical Scientist with the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.
"The arctic air masses don't get warmed up as much because of all the snow and ice," Anderson said. "There has not been much of a thaw so the ice keeps building up."
The last time in recent history the ice coverage was even close to this winter's percentage was the winter of 1993-1994. That winter ice coverage was measured at 90.7 percent.

Unlike a pond, the depth of the Great Lakes prevent it from being a completely frozen sheet of ice, but instead the ice atop the lakes can actually move with the wind, according to Austin. Due to the ability of the ice to move around, the thickness of the ice across the lakes vary and therefore researchers do not know how thick the ice is in all portions of the lake.
So, this makes it hard for scientists to define what freezing over entirely really means.
Depending on who you ask, Lake Superior already has frozen over, Austin stated. However, with two to three weeks to go until the typical peak of ice coverage in mid-March, the lakes will only freeze even more.
"The ice will become more robust, we are going to have more ice rather than less over the next three weeks," Austin said.
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Other than the ice jam worries, the ice coverage on the Great Lakes, specifically on Lake Superior, is mounting concerns for the region's climate.
"With all of this ice, all the sunlight that hits the surface of the lake is going to get bounced back out into space, so it's going to take longer to get warmer this spring and summer," Austin said. "The lake is going to just start warming this year when it will start cooling off for next year."
In this Feb. 6, 2014, aerial photo is the ice-covered St. Clair River with the Canadian shoreline on the left. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
This could bring a relatively cool year for the communities surrounding the lake.
However, the silver lining of the massive ice coverage is that perhaps it can prevent lake water levels from lowering like they did just last year.
"With the ice cover, less water gets evaporated so lake levels stay high and help preserve some of the water," Anderson said.
Regardless of the impending impacts of the ice on the region, one thing is for sure, the ice isn't going anywhere any time soon.
Have questions, comments, or a story to share? Email Kristen Rodman at Kristen.Rodman@accuweather.com, follow her on Twitter @Accu_Kristen or Google+. Follow us @breakingweather, or on Facebook and Google+.

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Anthony Sagliani
anthonywx

MODIS image of Great Lakes ice coverage yesterday at 91.8%, or the highest since February 1979. pic.twitter.com/wFnGqAVsot

  • Thomas B. Grady · Top Commenter
    Wonder what the global cooling
    • Thomas B. Grady · Top Commenter
      Wonder what the global cooling deniers think about this.
      Reply · 23 · Like · Follow Post · February 19 at 7:29pm
      • Jimbo Limbo · Top Commenter · The University of Texas at Austin
        Shhhh! It's "climate change" now, so it covers both ways. There's no way to prove a negative, so we can call everyone who denies that man controls the weather a "denier," and the government grants will keep rolling in- hot or cold! If they ever catch on, we'll travel from city to city, offering to repair roofs. Start the repairs, cash the check, vroom. We can even give people fake lotto tickets to cash, in return for checks... there's a million ways to con the public, if they ever catch on to this one. [This speech is a parody of a proposal to con the public, as AGW is a parody of science]
        Reply · 11 · Like · February 20 at 1:43am
      • Peter Kuck · Top Commenter
        Jimbo Limbo - The arrogance of the politicians claiming that only they can control the climate when they cannot even control Washington D.C.
        Reply · 13 · Like · February 20 at 6:31am
    • Richard Spooner · Top Commenter
      As far as I can tell, the narrative is as follows. First we had global warming predictions that did not come true, despite pervasive fraud in the data published by the zealots. So they changed the name to the ridiculous "climate change", fo which they should have been laughed off the stage of public discourse. Then when we hav one of the coldest winters on record, they blame it on the earlier miniscule, if any, global warming (even though they had abandoned that term). And now they are predicting a cooler spring than normal because of the severe cold that was caused by global warming. Meanwhile, the sun is in a cycle of low activity, a fact that the global warming cult seem to ignore or heavily discount. But we doubters of man made global warming are the idiot deniers? Right.
      Reply · 16 · Like · Follow Post · February 20 at 1:08am
      • Peter Kuck · Top Commenter
        truth
        Reply · 2 · Like · February 20 at 6:33am
      • Sarah Wilder · Top Commenter · Adelphi University
        First we had global cooling predictions in the 1970's. Then, global warming. Now a marketing firm came up with "climate change." Bad humans, bad!
        Reply · Like · February 20 at 11:07am
      • Dennis P Kelly · Top Commenter · Field Agent at Knights of Columbus
        Rad Radagain - sorry Rad, you're logic is not "logical" and you are not correct. Is the Castle you are working at White Castle? Fries with that??
        Reply · Like · Yesterday at 4:36pm
    • Gerri Augugliaro · Macomb Community College
      Hopefully, we are not heading for another ice age!
      Reply · 14 · Like · Follow Post · February 18 at 10:37pm
    • Jim Temple · Top Commenter
      Ah, but one of the variables is the path of the jet stream and how it drags airflow across the country. If it's more North and South, it could keep things cooler, because of the lakes. If it's more west to east, it may bypass the lakes for a lot of the country and make it a little warmer. It will be interesting to see what happens.

      There's more to climate than a cold lake and a heck of a lot more than CO2 emissions.
      Reply · 12 · Like · Follow Post · February 19 at 6:49pm
    • Jeremy Couts · Top Commenter · Wright State University
      Perhaps if this persists for a few decades. Ice sinks as it approaches 32F. This is part of the miracle that is water and the turning of large bodies of water. Could we end up with a great lake with a screwed up thermocline, perhaps. But by then the Sun will be in full gear again kicking out solar flares.

      I accepted no government grants to provide you this true information on how cycles work.
      Reply · 7 · Like · Follow Post · February 19 at 10:07pm
    • Michael Tims · Top Commenter · Works at Happily Retired
      The frozen Great Lakes are causing a political crisis in Canada. Heretofore untold numbers of inhabitants of "Canada's basement" are brazenly crossing into the Dominion. NDP party apparatchiks have been spotted meeting the invaders with snowmobiles bearing Hudson's Bay blankets, hot beaver tails and poutine. Conservative party observers denounce this as an effort to swell the ranks of "undocumented New Democrats" and vow to use secret Canadian technology to restore the lakes to a liquid state. NDP officials deny any part in the affair, but a reporter for the Toronto Star claimed that an NDP office had ordered a mass printing of "The Newcomers Guide to Hockey". Further reports as events unfold.
      Reply · 6 · Like · Follow Post · February 19 at 8:19pm
    • Giovanni Crescenzi
      Well they had a fifty fifty chance of being correct about global warming, maybe they will have better luck predicting the next crisis.
      Reply · 6 · Like · Follow Post · February 19 at 7:18pm
    • Dan McJury
      Here in Buffalo, at the mouth of the Niagara River, the NY State Power Authority installs the "ice boom" every year to control the movement of ice from Lake Erie into the Niagara River and downstream towards the power plants on both the US and Canadian sides. The purpose is to prevent damage to the hydroelectric facilities of both countries. For years the local populace has blamed this retention of lake ice in the eastern Lake Erie basin as the cause of cool springs and the delayed arrival of summer only to be assured by both the Power Authority and the National Weather Service that "It's all in our heads". The retention of ice behind the ice boom has no effect on the local climate in western NY, so it's interesting to see you postulate that the extensive ice cover on Superior will result in a cooler summer. Seems like you believe that ice cover will effect the local climate.
      Reply · 3 · Like · Follow Post · February 20 at 12:39am
      • Bill Ross · Top Commenter · Thermal hydraulics specialist at CANDU Energy
        the ice boom in Buffalo only creates a small region of ice with area less than 5% of the ice coverage of a completely frozen lake superior. and lake erie warms up much faster once the ice is gone compared to superior. therefore, there is no valid comparison between the two regions.
        Reply · Like · 41 minutes ago
    • Michael Lesich · · Top Commenter
      On a story about Lake Superior you posted a picture of the St. Clair River, which is 500 miles away. Might as well have posted a picture of the Hudson River.
      Reply · 3 · Like · Follow Post · February 20 at 12:17am
    • Charles Wren · Top Commenter · Works at Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication
      Due to Global Warming Doublespeak there will be Record Ice on Lake Superior, and Summer will be cooler.
    deniers think about this.
    Reply · 23 · Like · Follow Post · February 19 at 7:29pm

    • Jimbo Limbo · Top Commenter · The University of Texas at Austin
      Shhhh! It's "climate change" now, so it covers both ways. There's no way to prove a negative, so we can call everyone who denies that man controls the weather a "denier," and the government grants will keep rolling in- hot or cold! If they ever catch on, we'll travel from city to city, offering to repair roofs. Start the repairs, cash the check, vroom. We can even give people fake lotto tickets to cash, in return for checks... there's a million ways to con the public, if they ever catch on to this one. [This speech is a parody of a proposal to con the public, as AGW is a parody of science]
      Reply · 11 · Like · February 20 at 1:43am

    • Peter Kuck · Top Commenter
      Jimbo Limbo - The arrogance of the politicians claiming that only they can control the climate when they cannot even control Washington D.C.
      Reply · 13 · Like · February 20 at 6:31am

  • Richard Spooner · Top Commenter
    As far as I can tell, the narrative is as follows. First we had global warming predictions that did not come true, despite pervasive fraud in the data published by the zealots. So they changed the name to the ridiculous "climate change", fo which they should have been laughed off the stage of public discourse. Then when we hav one of the coldest winters on record, they blame it on the earlier miniscule, if any, global warming (even though they had abandoned that term). And now they are predicting a cooler spring than normal because of the severe cold that was caused by global warming. Meanwhile, the sun is in a cycle of low activity, a fact that the global warming cult seem to ignore or heavily discount. But we doubters of man made global warming are the idiot deniers? Right.
    Reply · 16 · Like · Follow Post · February 20 at 1:08am

    • Peter Kuck · Top Commenter
      truth
      Reply · 2 · Like · February 20 at 6:33am

    • Sarah Wilder · Top Commenter · Adelphi University
      First we had global cooling predictions in the 1970's. Then, global warming. Now a marketing firm came up with "climate change." Bad humans, bad!
      Reply · Like · February 20 at 11:07am

    • Dennis P Kelly · Top Commenter · Field Agent at Knights of Columbus
      Rad Radagain - sorry Rad, you're logic is not "logical" and you are not correct. Is the Castle you are working at White Castle? Fries with that??
      Reply · Like · Yesterday at 4:36pm

  • Gerri Augugliaro · Macomb Community College
    Hopefully, we are not heading for another ice age!
    Reply · 14 · Like · Follow Post · February 18 at 10:37pm

  • Jim Temple · Top Commenter
    Ah, but one of the variables is the path of the jet stream and how it drags airflow across the country. If it's more North and South, it could keep things cooler, because of the lakes. If it's more west to east, it may bypass the lakes for a lot of the country and make it a little warmer. It will be interesting to see what happens.

    There's more to climate than a cold lake and a heck of a lot more than CO2 emissions.
    Reply · 12 · Like · Follow Post · February 19 at 6:49pm

  • Jeremy Couts · Top Commenter · Wright State University
    Perhaps if this persists for a few decades. Ice sinks as it approaches 32F. This is part of the miracle that is water and the turning of large bodies of water. Could we end up with a great lake with a screwed up thermocline, perhaps. But by then the Sun will be in full gear again kicking out solar flares.

    I accepted no government grants to provide you this true information on how cycles work.
    Reply · 7 · Like · Follow Post · February 19 at 10:07pm

  • Michael Tims · Top Commenter · Works at Happily Retired
    The frozen Great Lakes are causing a political crisis in Canada. Heretofore untold numbers of inhabitants of "Canada's basement" are brazenly crossing into the Dominion. NDP party apparatchiks have been spotted meeting the invaders with snowmobiles bearing Hudson's Bay blankets, hot beaver tails and poutine. Conservative party observers denounce this as an effort to swell the ranks of "undocumented New Democrats" and vow to use secret Canadian technology to restore the lakes to a liquid state. NDP officials deny any part in the affair, but a reporter for the Toronto Star claimed that an NDP office had ordered a mass printing of "The Newcomers Guide to Hockey". Further reports as events unfold.
    Reply · 6 · Like · Follow Post · February 19 at 8:19pm

  • Giovanni Crescenzi
    Well they had a fifty fifty chance of being correct about global warming, maybe they will have better luck predicting the next crisis.
    Reply · 6 · Like · Follow Post · February 19 at 7:18pm

  • Dan McJury
    Here in Buffalo, at the mouth of the Niagara River, the NY State Power Authority installs the "ice boom" every year to control the movement of ice from Lake Erie into the Niagara River and downstream towards the power plants on both the US and Canadian sides. The purpose is to prevent damage to the hydroelectric facilities of both countries. For years the local populace has blamed this retention of lake ice in the eastern Lake Erie basin as the cause of cool springs and the delayed arrival of summer only to be assured by both the Power Authority and the National Weather Service that "It's all in our heads". The retention of ice behind the ice boom has no effect on the local climate in western NY, so it's interesting to see you postulate that the extensive ice cover on Superior will result in a cooler summer. Seems like you believe that ice cover will effect the local climate.
    Reply · 3 · Like · Follow Post · February 20 at 12:39am

    • Bill Ross · Top Commenter · Thermal hydraulics specialist at CANDU Energy
      the ice boom in Buffalo only creates a small region of ice with area less than 5% of the ice coverage of a completely frozen lake superior. and lake erie warms up much faster once the ice is gone compared to superior. therefore, there is no valid comparison between the two regions.
      Reply · Like · 38 minutes ago

  • Michael Lesich · · Top Commenter
    On a story about Lake Superior you posted a picture of the St. Clair River, which is 500 miles away. Might as well have posted a picture of the Hudson River.
    Reply · 3 · Like · Follow Post · February 20 at 12:17am

  • Charles Wren · Top Commenter · Works at Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication
    Due to Global Warming Doublespeak there will be Record Ice on Lake Superior, and Summer will be cooler.
    Reply · 3 · Like · Follow Post · February 20 at 12:05am

  • Jimbo Limbo · Top Commenter · The University of Texas at Austin
    Read this sentence from the article: "Other than the ice jam worries, the ice coverage on the Great Lakes, specifically on Lake Superior, is mounting concerns for the region's climate.."

    Taking out the subordinate clauses, we arrive at, "The ice coverage on the great lakes is mounting concerns for the region's climate."

    Can I get an editor in here, STAT? The ice coverage may CAUSE mounting concerns, but it may not mount them, itself. If it can mount concerns, next thing you know, it will be riding them around.

    Whatever happened to all the editors? Oh yeah, that's a useless profession, now. We've got spell check. Sheesh.
    Reply · 2 · Like · Follow Post · February 20 at 1:35am

  • Christopher Pringle · Top Commenter · South Hastings Institute of Technology
    hard to believe there as many sheeple as those who want to use their minds. AGW has been a fraud from the get go - you want to know qui bono? Just follow the money.
    Reply · 2 · Like · Follow Post · February 20 at 11:04am

  • Tom Stollmaier · Chapin, South Carolina
    If it wasn't for global warming we'd all freeze. Better keep pouring out that carbon.
    Reply · 2 · Like · Follow Post · February 19 at 9:54pm

  • Stewart Orvik · Top Commenter · UND, bored again
    It once was easy to determine whether or not a threat was real. Unfortunately our scientists have been caught lying and so now it's a question of which, if any, we can believe. Are we now supposed to put our trust in the ones that shout the loudest? It's a sad state of affairs.
    Reply · 1 · Like · Follow Post · February 20 at 11:12am

  • Kurt Smith · Top Commenter · Oakton High School
    remember, when humans warm up the globe, the winters get colder. Now get back to work you lowly tax slaves!
    Reply · 1 · Like · Follow Post · February 20 at 8:21am

  • Benjamin Bloomer
    Farmers Almanac said this wither would be bitterly cold.
    Reply · 1 · Like · Follow Post · February 20 at 8:57am

  • Mark Fredrickson · Top Commenter
    Global warming sucks! Please make it go away so I can be warmer.
    Reply · 1 · Like · Follow Post · February 20 at 5:47am

  • Christopher Dawe · Southern New Hampshire University
    Snowstorm on the East Coast Monday, Weds and a giant storm next Sat
    Reply · 1 · Like · Follow Post · February 19 at 8:07pm

  • Steve Wilson · Top Commenter · Grand Inquisitor,Chief Bottle Washer. at Steves Roadside Service
    Global Cooling! Hide the women and kids.
    Reply · 1 · Like · Follow Post · February 20 at 11:00am

  • Joe Nalley · Top Commenter · The University of Hard Knocks
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnVpOJFtugU
    Reply · Like · Follow Post · February 20 at 5:46am

  • Jerry Stroud · Top Commenter · Rochestor Institute of Technology
    Can someone explain to me how the glaciers are melting and the great lakes are frozen solid? Especially where the glaciers are it is much colder than where the great lakes are located. We are hearing of -70 to -100 F temperatures and melting glaciers. Something does not compute!
    Reply · Like · Follow Post · February 20 at 8:52am

  • Thomas Gasko · Top Commenter
    Cheaper air conditioning costs for me this summer here in macomb co., mi. The 'next'ice age has started! Bring back the Wooly Mammoth, I hear it makes for a fine pet!
    Reply · Like · Follow Post · February 20 at 7:20am

  • Dan Merithew · Top Commenter · School of Hard Knocks
    I've done a lot of swimming in superior and you have to be a hardy individual to swim in that lake in the middle of August. That lake is permanently cold...
    Reply · Like · Follow Post · February 20 at 9:11am

  • Daniel Knezacek · Georgian College
    If they didn't dredge out the St. Clair river so much, lake Huron would not need the ice to keep the water from evaporating. Maybe it's time for some locks?
    Reply · Like · Follow Post · February 19 at 7:02pm

  • Patricia Holman · Top Commenter · Bakersfield, California
    Hope they didn't have to take out college loans to figure this out. uh. cold ice means cooler weather. duh
    Reply · Like · Follow Post · February 20 at 2:29am

  • John Kirby · Glen Oaks Senior High School
    Can someone remind me, what is so bad about global warming? Could use some about now.
    Reply · Like · Follow Post · February 20 at 8:51am

  • Corey Pouliot · Great Bay Community College
    They show a satellite image from 2007? What's the point of that?
    Reply
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