Cooler At The Lakeshore? Not So Much This Year.

By Bob Allen

When summer heats-up, people head to the shore of Lake Michigan where temperatures can be noticeably cooler.

“There have been times in May, for example, that temperatures have been well into the 70’s away from the coast inland. But right at the immediate coast temperatures struggled to even reach 60,” says  Jeff Halblaub with the National Weather Service office in Gaylord.

But this summer the cooling effect has faded pretty quickly and there’s not as much difference between temperatures inland and along the lakeshore. That’s because Lake Michigan is running about five degrees above normal.

Halblaub says storms have been passing farther north, above Canada, and weaker winds along the coast have done a lot to increase water temperature.

He says storms cause the lake to turn-over and bring cooler water to the surface.

“And if we don’t have any stronger winds to come through it won’t mix up the waters,” Halblaub says. “That’s why we’re running about three degrees Celsius which turns out to be about five degrees Fahrenheit warmer than normal.” 

The last major mixing of the waters in Lake Michigan was back in March.

Weaker winds also mean smaller waves and fewer warnings about rip currents so far this summer.