2024-Dec-09
December 8 Water Levels Report
Lake Michigan-Huron is now 6 inches below its level at this time last year.
From a month ago the water levels on Lakes Superior, Michigan-Huron, St Clair, Erie & Ontario are down 2, 3, 7, 6 & 2 inches, respectively. Lakes Superior Michigan-Huron, St Clair, Erie & Ontario are lower by 6, 6, 11, 8 & 3 inches, respectively, than they were at this time last year. Lake Erie is 2 inches above the long-term December average, and Lakes Superior, Lake Michigan-Huron, St Clair & Ontario are 6, 3, 3 & 6 inches below, respectively. All the lakes remain well below their December record highs.
In a month’s time, Lakes Superior & Michigan-Huron are expected to fall by 3 and 2 inches, respectively. Lakes St. Clair & Ontario are expected to rise by 3 & 2 inches while Lake Erie is expected to stay the same.
Outflows from Lake Superior into the St. Mary’s River are 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 slightly above average, Lake Ontario’s outflow through the St. Lawrence River is projected to be below 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 drop in August through January and level off in February.
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 1918-2021 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.
