Lake Michigan Water Level
July 25th, 2009 at 8:43 pm by Bill Steffen under Bill's Blog, Weather
The water level of Lake Michigan dropped an inch in the past week. It’s been a dry month over much of the Great Lakes. As of Saturday evening, the Kalamazoo Airport has recorded only 0.24″ of rain in July, nearby Oshtemo has had 0.47″. The Battle Creek Airport has had only 1/10th inch of rain. Muskegon is at 0.84″. Lake Michigan is 6″ above the level of one year ago, but 7″ below the average level for July. The lake will likely drop another 2″ by the end of August. Side note: Here’s a story about a moving car that was hit by lightning in Jackson Thurs. Night.
Oh great……always thought u were safe from lightening inside your car!
You are completely safe in your car… Notice that the person was uninjured. Had she not been in her car when the lightning struck, she would be dead.
What is within season levels for average lake amounts? I’m sure its quite normal for the Lake to gain and lose inches of water throughout the year. What is the Lake level’s affect on the weather? Higher water level equivalent to additional lake effect snow? I thought this had more to do with the winds/wind speed in relation to weather systems.
The weather impacts the lake level – it’s not the other way around…
How stupid can people get? The water level would not be low if all the water leading to homes and businesses located in the pipes underground and the water towers were flushed back into the lake.
Bill…I have over an inch for my area in total monthly precip., but that is mostly due to a storm the developed north of the airport (where the city rain guage is!) on Wednesday, Did you see that on the Live Doppler Network?
I saw it happen 30 years ago. Southbound US131 near Sand Lake a car was in front of me dragging its muffler (I noticed the sparks). That must have given it the grounding it needed because WHAM, the car got hit. Same as in this story, the driver was fine but the car as toast (pun intended!).
Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I believe that the Army Corp of Engineers is controlling the levels through the Chicago River channel and the Erie Canal. With all the flooding from the past two years in the states of North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota, there has not been the demand for fresh water from the Great Lakes. Not all the Great Lakes are at a premium at this time, and could cause issues in the near future for our area. water still runs down hill does it not? Not to mention all the water that is sucked out to supply the cities around the Great Lakes. Just a theory, take it for what it it’s worth! have a great day anyway!