WEST MICHIGAN — (September 13, 2014) After a few years of below average lake levels, Lake Michigan is starting to slowly rebound.
After an above average winter snowfall in the Great Lakes basin, and steady spring and summer rains Lake Michigan is slowly starting to increase levels.
After record ice coverage this winter, the Army Corp of Engineers released their spring outlook calling for increasing lake levels by this fall and it looks like that forecast was right on.
Lake Michigan first climbed above average for a short period on August 13th, but shortly after dropped slightly below. It didn’t take long as the basin received heavy rains at the end of August allowing levels to increase and by the beginning of September, lake levels were at or above average.
As of September 12th, Lake Michigan/Huron were recording lake levels at 579.17 feet. That is above the mean level of 579.11 feet and the long-term average of 579.09 feet. Even though levels are only a few inches above average, they are two feet above levels this time last year and thirty feet above the record lowest level in September.
Lake levels are expected to drop an inch in the month of October but will still be closer to average than the lake has been in the last few years.
