Potential Record Ice on Lake Superior May Mean a Cool Spring

[Andie]

 

What do you upper Midwesterner think of this ?

 

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With no 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 Lake Superior has exceeded other measurements in recent history.

"By the long shot this is the most ice we've had on Lake Superior in 20 years," Associate Professor Jay Austin of the Large Lakes Observatory in Duluth, Minn., said.

 

 

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."

 

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.

 

By Kristen Rodman, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer

 

February 20, 2014; 4:19 AM

 

 

[Geos]

Thing of it is, the storm that's heading northwards today will act like a blender on the ice cover on Lake Superior. The winds on Tuesday and Wednesday sent the ice cover on Lake Michigan crashing. In fact the warmer water up-welled to the surface. 

 

http://www.coastwatch.msu.edu/michigan/m61.html

[Tom]

Right on Andie, it looks like it will be a cool/wet Spring around these parts.  NOAA along with the CFS are indicating not much of a warmer than normal pattern in the Spring in the Great Lakes region.

[james1976]

love it!

[snow_wizard]

I'm so jealous. All we have managed to come up with in the NW is table scraps this winter. Seems like our time will never come.

[tim the weatherman]

i don't know why this is a topic

[WBadgersW]

A cool spring is excellent news. I'll be running the Grandma marathon up in Duluth and the cool temperatures would come to a great benefit to me.

[Geos]

I'll appreciate the cool spring come May. Rarely do appreciate it in April. lol 

Bigger benefits will be in the summer.

[ChicagoToSeattle]

With the amount of ice on Lake Michigan, it will be a cruel Spring for many in the city and near the lake suburbs. March, April and May all have prevailing winds from the Northeast. That's why you'll get days in the 40's in the loop and 60s in the Western suburbs. This year inevitably will be worse as the lake is certain to be in the 30s come April. That's mighty cold and is the reason why I rate Spring in Chicago as my least favorite season (2012 being the once in a lifetime exception) Two years ago, it was 68 on 3/6 and we hit the 80s on eight different days -- crazy

[Tom]

I agree ChicagoToSeattle, that's why I like flying out to AZ sometime towards the end of March and enjoy some of the desert sunshine for a couple months before coming back to Chicago when the warmth settles in.  I expect a depressing Spring season this year and I may just extend my stay in AZ this year.  I'll never forget March of 2012 when we broke that record streak of 80's!  I was out grilling every night...just unreal.  We paid for it that summer though with the heat and humidity.  I would imagine that this summer will be cool/wet and the below normal pattern to continue.  Lake Michigan water temp may not crack 70F this year!

[Geos]

With the amount of ice on Lake Michigan, it will be a cruel Spring for many in the city and near the lake suburbs. March, April and May all have prevailing winds from the Northeast. That's why you'll get days in the 40's in the loop and 60s in the Western suburbs. This year inevitably will be worse as the lake is certain to be in the 30s come April. That's mighty cold and is the reason why I rate Spring in Chicago as my least favorite season (2012 being the once in a lifetime exception) Two years ago, it was 68 on 3/6 and we hit the 80s on eight different days -- crazy

 

Yeah I think you're right. Unless we were to get a warm persistent ridge in the region in April or May. Of course the lake ice can break up really quickly with a windy storm system. Next week I suspect the ice coverage will be a lot less.

 

If for some reason it is a hot summer for the Midwest, then the cooler lake may be very beneficial for us members close enough to it. Lake breezes will have more power probably into late July this year.

[Meichel]

Annnnddddd I personally like it between 40º - 60º so I'm thrilled it will be a cool spring. Summer is definitely my least favorite. Anything above 70º, when the sun is out, is too hot for me.

[Geos]

Great Lakes satellite image today. Given the strong winds forecasted tomorrow, the view will look very different come Monday.

 

[FiNsTa]

I just want to clear up this misconception. There has been (and still is) an extensive amount of ice on Lake Michigan. However, it doesn't actually mean that there will be more lake breezes penetrating the lakeside areas. Large scale weather patterns are what determine the amount of lake breezes that are present in a year. Also, you cannot just come up with the conclusion that "it will be a cool spring" when spring has barely started.

[Geos]

I just want to clear up this misconception. There has been (and still is) an extensive amount of ice on Lake Michigan. However, it doesn't actually mean that there will be more lake breezes penetrating the lakeside areas. Large scale weather patterns are what determine the amount of lake breezes that are present in a year. Also, you cannot just come up with the conclusion that "it will be a cool spring" when spring has barely started.

 

Yeah Gino Izzi posted a video of this here: 

 

I'm anxious to see what the satellite image shows tomorrow at this time after a windy, mild day. One thing that happened yesterday was the snow that was onto of the ice melted, thus darkening up the surface.

[Geos]

Not Lake Superior, but it's Lake Michigan this morning at Racine.

 

Shore shore ice visible, but not much else anymore.

 

 

Southern Lake Michigan ice cover now.