The Great Lakes Are Melting (IMAGES)

Chris Dolce
Published: March 21,2015




 

With the melt season kicking into full gear, ice coverage on the Great Lakes has dropped from its peak of 88.75 percent on Feb. 28 to 53 percent as of March 20.
The animation below shows that not only has the ice melted or thinned out, but the surrounding snow cover on adjacent land areas has also melted away. You can also see the ice thinning on smaller lakes and rivers in the region. For a closer look at the progression of the ice melt on Lakes Erie, Superior and Huron, click through the slideshow above.
This winter was the second in a row that ice coverage in the Great Lakes peaked above 80 percent. The last time this happened in back-to-back years was in the late 1970s.
As you might expect, the more ice you have on the Great Lakes, the longer it takes to melt depending on temperatures in the spring months. Last year when ice coverage peaked at its second highest level on record at 92.5 percent, the Great Lakes were not completely free of ice until June 10.