Lake Michigan swimmers at Red Arrow Park in Manitowoc
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Hydraulics and Hydrology officials forecast Great Lakes water levels to continue a seasonal rise.
Keith Kompoltowicz, who is Chief of the Watershed Hydrology Section in Detroit, told Seehafer News, “Currently on Lake Michigan we’re still above the long term average. Our period of record goes back to 1918, so we are in the neighborhood of about 10 inches above the long-term average for this time of year. And that’s about two feet lower than the record highs we saw in 2020.”
Kompoltowicz also explained that water levels “are driven by our weather patterns” currently on Lake Michigan here in the Great Lakes.
“Getting to the record highs was the result of several years in a row of very wet and record wet conditions,” he said. “The past few years have been very much drier in comparison and that allowed the levels to decline. It’s not necessarily surprising as we’ve seen these types of fluctuation going back over 100 years.”
He added water levels follow a seasonal pattern.
In the spring, water levels typically rise, due to increased precipitation and enhanced runoff from snowmelt.
Kompoltowicz explained “It was a little bit surprising at how quickly Lake Michigan fell from the record highs.”
