NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory says ice cover on the Great Lakes has been steadily decreasing in recent weeks and now is at a historic low for mid-February.
Ice cover is now at less than 3% across the Great Lakes system.
The researchers say the lower ice level isn’t having any significant impact on water levels — they’re within an inch of values of a year ago and running “just a touch” above the long-term average.
Thursday may be another day suitable for a bundled-up visit to the lakefront, with a high of 43 degrees, but there’s a chance of snow Friday, with a high temperature near freezing.
Little ice, lots of evaporation, sending lake levels lower.