(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Daily Bucket: Great Lake ice report -- going, going, gone [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-03-11
I’ve been watching ice formation in my small corner of the Great Lakes. Earlier reports are here (January 10, 2025), here (February 12, 2025) and here (February 24, 2025). We’ve hit 60 degrees F recently, with near 70 in the forecast. What little lake ice there is left is melting quickly and not to be seen again until late in the year.
First, some graphics and maps from the wonderful scientists at NOAA, the U.S. National Ice Center the Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab:
Year-to-date ice cover February 16, 2025. Headed in the right direction...
As of March 8, 2025, not so much.
Four panel as of February 16th, with the bottom left panel from last year for comparison. Bigger
Four panel as of March 8th. The best I can say is we did better than last year. Bigger
My on-the-ground observation is that Lake St. Clair went from thick enough to support ice fishing well out into the lake to virtually ice free in a little over two weeks.
Lake St. Clair at the Metropark, Anchor Bay, February 18, 2025, looking northeast. Embiggen to see the ice shanties.
February 18th, also at the Metropark, looking east towards Ontario. No freighter traffic was running at that time.
Lake St. Clair at the Metropark on March 7th, looking southeast towards Detroit. There is a small bay at the park, and that was the only place I saw ice shanties.
I hadn’t visited Lake Erie since early January. There was ice near shore at that time, but not further out. On my way back from Florida on February 28th, I had a front row seat to view the ice on western Lake Erie and the Detroit River.
This is the mouth of the Detroit River, looking east across Lake Erie. The upper left landmass is Ontario, Canada. You can see from this photo why raptors cross this narrow channel instead of flying across the lake. The Detroit River Hawk Watch is located just out of frame to the left. The smaller river in the lower left is the Huron River.
Another view of the mouth of the Detroit River, with Grosse Ile in the upper left, and Ontario at the top. You can imagine my delight when I recognized my beloved Pointe Mouillee, which fills the lower right quadrant. The brown arced shape is affectionately called The Banana.
Another view of the Detroit and Huron Rivers, with Grosse Ile in the middle. This is looking roughly northeast. Barely visible is Lake St. Clair at the top left. The plane continued north but banked sharply west as we were flying over Detroit, so the photos I took at that point are too blurry to be helpful.
A week later, here’s how western Lake Erie looked at three different points, starting north and moving downstream southeast.
At Lake Erie Metropark, looking east towards Canada. The park is at the mouth of the Detroit River, just west of the southern tip of Grosse Ile.
Lake Erie at Luna Pier, Michigan (close to the border of Ohio), about as far west as Lake Erie goes. This is max zoom on my camera to capture the only ice I saw, which was far out on the lake.
Lake Erie at Metzger Marsh, Bono, Ohio, on March 8th. This is southeast of the prior shot, looking east, with no ice in sight. I took the title photo from the same area.
Until next winter, that’s a wrap on the Great Lakes ice reports.
NOW IT’S YOUR TURN. WHAT’S HAPPENING IN NATURE IN YOUR AREA?
THE DAILY BUCKET IS A NATURE REFUGE. WE AMICABLY DISCUSS ANIMALS, WEATHER, CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, WATERS AND NOTE LIFE’S PATTERNS.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/11/2309028/-Daily-Bucket-Great-Lake-ice-report-going-going-gone?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
