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WEATHER
Detroit, MI

Freeze pushes Great Lakes ice cover toward '79 record

Eric D. Lawrence
Detroit Free Press
St. Joseph Lighthouse rises behind mounds of ice formed along the shores of Lake Michigan on Jan. 21, 2014, in St. Joseph, Mich.
  • Nearly 90%25 of the lakes%27 surface is iced over%2C a 9-percentage-point increase in a week
  • The record is 95%25 ice cover in February 1979
  • Below-freezing temperatures are expected to recede next week%2C so record may be safe

DETROIT — If this winter needed a theme song, it might be Ice Ice Baby.

The Great Lakes are on the cusp of a record for ice cover.

"In the last one to two weeks, we've seen rapid accumulations on Lakes Superior, Huron and Michigan," said Jeff Andresen, an associate professor in Michigan State University's geography department who also is the state climatologist.

The ice cover on the lakes increased from 79.7% to 88.4% just in the past week, putting the region close to the record of almost 95% set in February 1979, according to data compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor.

The extensive ice cover has had some interesting and positive effects, like shutting off lake-effect snow, making it sunnier in portions of states near the lakes and limiting evaporation, which could help boost lake levels.

And the ice cover could help delay the spring warm-up — good news for farmers as it helps keep certain crops, like fruit trees, dormant longer and less susceptible to freezing early in the growing season — Andresen said.

Don Mueller, 67, of Harrison Township, Mich., shows a perch he caught while ice fishing.

Conversely, it's bad news for the shipping industry, whose vessels can't go anywhere when the ports are frozen solid.

The winter of 2013-14 also is shaping up to be one of the five coldest, at least in Michigan's recorded history, Andresen said, although it's still early to say for certain.

"We haven't seen many winters like this that are cold from beginning to end," he said, noting that this is the fourth consecutive month that is colder than normal. "It has been an extraordinary winter, and the ice cover is a manifestation of that unusually cold winter."

He cautioned that temperatures forecast in the 40s next week could hurt the chances to break an ice-cover record.

"It may not be in the cards, but it's way, way above normal," Andresen said of the ice.

George Lessens, chief meteorologist at WZZM-TV, Grand Rapids, Mich., agreed that the ice cover on the Great Lakes is substantial, but he doubts the region will hit a record.

"We could see the lakes getting close to that record if we had another week to 10 days (of below-freezing temperatures), but we're going to go into the 40s next week," he said. "That's really going to put the brakes on it."

Ice forms along the shore of Lake Michigan as temperatures hovered around -10 degrees on Jan. 28, 2014 in Chicago

If the lakes fail to beat the record, we can blame Lake Ontario.

"Lake Ontario is still quite a bit uncovered. They're holding everyone back," Lessens said.

Lake Ontario's depth and the churning that Niagara Falls causes mean it needs long stretches of exceptionally cold weather to freeze. Its ice cover of just a bit more than 40% Thursday. Other lakes are almost completely covered: Superior, 93.6%; Huron, 95%, and Erie, 95.7%. Lake Michigan was at 81%.

The extensive lake ice provided a backdrop Thursday for Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., as she traveled aboard the U.S. Coast Guard's 225-foot icebreaker, the Hollyhock, from Port Huron, Mich.

"I was interested to see up close the vast amount of ice blanketing Lake Huron and extremely impressed with the skill, dedication and persistence demonstrated by the crew of the Hollyhock as they cut through the ice," she said in a news release. "This winter's brutally cold conditions create even greater challenges as they work to stay ahead of the ice and prepare for ice jams during the spring thaw."

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