2025-Mar-04
March 2 Water Levels Report
From a month ago the water levels on Lakes Superior, Michigan-Huron, St. Clair, Erie & Ontario are down 3, 2, 6, 2 & 0inches, respectively. Lakes Superior, Michigan-Huron, St. Clair, Erie & Ontario are lower by 6, 11, 17, 14 & 10 inches, respectively, than they were at this time last year. Lake Erie is 1 inch above the long-term February average, andLakes Superior, Lake Michigan-Huron, Lake St. Clair & Lake Ontario are 8, 8, 4 & 7 inches below their long-term January averages. All the lakes remain well below their February record highs.
In a month, Lakes Superior, Michigan-Huron, St. Clair, Erie & Ontario are expected to rise by 0, 1, 10, 5 & 5 inches, respectively.
Outflows from Lake Superior into the St. Mary’s River is expected to be below average, whereas Lake Michigan-Huron’s outflow into the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair’s outflow through the Detroit River, and Lake Erie’s outflow through the Niagara River are expected to be above average for this month. and Lake Ontario’s outflow through the St. Lawrence River is expected to be slightly above average for this month. This report below shows the most recent month of precipitation and outflows published by Level News:
With regard to the forecast graph below, and the more recently updated first graph in this report, the USACE is predicting that the most likely outcome is that the Lake Michigan-Huron level will start to level off in February and then rise again in March through July.
Monthly mean water levels for the previous year and the current year to date are shown as a solid line on the hydrographs. A projection for the next six months is given as a dashed line. This projection is based on the present condition of the lake basin and anticipated future weather. The shaded area shows a range of possible levels over the next six months dependent upon weather variations. Current and projected levels (solid and dashed lines) can be compared with the 1918-2023 average levels (dotted line) and extreme levels (shown as bars with their year of occurrence). The legend below further identifies the information on the hydrographs.
There is no clear image satellite image showing ice on the Bay, but the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) graph below from March 2 shows Lake Huron ice cover is now dipping after a spike.