Mark Strehl Blog: Great lakes rising

I love lakes. Others may love the Ocean or Rivers - and don't get me wrong, I love ALL waters, but I'm a lake guy. And my favorite Lakes are Superior, Michigan and Huron! And in reality, Michigan and Huron are technically ONE big lake. Even though they are in different "basins." they rise and fall at the same level, which makes them "hydrologicaly" one body.

And rising, they have been doing. You see the Great Lakes, and specifically Superior and Michigan/ Huron have been in a period of historically low levels dropping since 1998. It's been a pain for shippers. They couldn't load their boats all the way to full, because some harbors were becoming too shallow. But in the last year, things have been turning around in a BIG way. Last year, (calendar 2014) Superior was up over half a meter - and Michigan/Huron nearly a meter. Not only is that a lot of water, but it's a lot of water fast!

The levels usually fall in the Fall. Only 11 times in the 154 years of records did lake levels go up in the Autumn. One of those 11 was last fall, which helped contribute to the rise.

Last year was one of the most rapid rises ever recorded, which continues to give evidence that we still know very little when it comes to knowing just exactly how this whole hydro/bio/atmosphere thing works!