i just read that lake michigan and lake huron will be a foot higher over datum this summer than last year.
Oh crap. All that water will eventually find its way to Lake Ontario. Michigan/Huron is 24" higher than average for March. Lake Ontario is only 11" higher than average.i just read that lake michigan and lake huron will be a foot higher over datum this summer than last year.
Well we don’t have tides but we have experience record low and record high water levels within a relatively short period of years. A few years ago we had record lows to point where marinas were racing to dredge. As we were planning for spring launch it was touch and go that my 5 foot draft boat was going to be bumping bottom in my slip. We had a really wet rainy April and the lake gained over a foot in depth in just one month. That’s an amazing volume of water when you factor in the size of the Lake Michigan / Lake Huron system.Whoda thunk?
I always figured you lake sailors didn't have the same problems us lesser saltwater sailors do.
It is the surface area that matters.Hey Dlochner. Lake Ontario is 30% smaller than Lake Erie in surface area but Lake Ontario has 3 times the water volume- 393 cu mi vs 116 cu mi. Your theory on the multiplier effect might be a little off.
The effect has nothing to do with volume, it is all about surface area. You are correct however, in that shoreline contours will have an effect in that funnel shaped shorelines increase the surface area, whereas steep vertical shorelines don't. Shoreline variation has a local effect especially with erosion.There's would also be a topological consideration. If the banks are steeper on one lake than on another, the same change in volume between two equal sized lakes may not translate to an equal change in height. The Great Lakes cover a vast amount of area and differences in terrain are to be expected.
-Will (Dragonfly)
Which how much over last year?Lake Erie is forecasted to be 4 1/2 feet over chart datum next month! Not worried about our marina, but expect to see shrinking beaches in the Islands this summer.