By Karl Bohnak, WLUC TV 6, Marquette, MI

It’s mid-summer and Lake Superior is still chilly.  Mid-lake buoy temperatures usually warm up quickly from early July on.  So far as of Monday, water temperatures at these buoys are barely above spring-time levels, running from the upper 30s at the northern and northeastern buoys to the low 40s at the western buoy.  Over the last several years, readings ran about ten degrees or so higher at mid-July.  There are likely a couple of reasons for the cold water.  First, it was a chilly spring and the summer through mid-July has been close to average.  Secondly over the last week, unseasonably powerful low-pressure areas have brought strong winds that have stirred up the lake, allowing upwelling of colder water to the surface.  I suspect with light winds and warmer air this week surface water temperatures will begin rising quickly.

If you are a lake watcher, you have probably noticed that the water level has come up, too.  As of this past Sunday, the level of Lake Superior is 601.7 feet.  That’s 1.3 feet above the average of last year and less than five inches below the long-term average.  Lake Superior’s level is primarily influenced by precipitation in its watershed and there has been abundant snow and rain over the last six-to-nine months.

Both the water level and water temperatures are much different than last year.  This CNN story written just over a year ago, told of disturbingly low water levels and unprecedented warm water temperatures.  The specter of global warming was raised in explaining these phenomenons in this story.  A more level-headed report here showed how before the days of sophisticated computer models, lake observers knew there were cyclical rises and falls in the level of Lake Superior.

This year, I suspect we will not hear much about Lake Superior water temperatures or levels.  “Average” or “normal” isn’t newsworthy. See Karl’s blog here.

Karl has been the main man in the TV6 Weather Center since 1988. His interests brought him to a career in broadcasting and later to the study of meteorology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Karl started doing TV weather in 1983. He holds the American Meteorological Society’s broadcast seal of approval and has written a book about weather and history of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.