(WXYZ) — The Great Lakes are starting to see some ice coverage as we've been hit with arctic temperatures over the past few days, however, it's still well below average.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, total ice coverage on the Great Lakes is at 4.8%.
That's up from just .4% of ice coverage the Great Lakes had on Jan. 2.
Here's the breakdown by lake, as well as Lake St. Clair, as of Jan. 15.
- Lake Superior - 3.04%
- Lake Michigan - 3.95%
- Lake Huron - 5.36%
- Lake Erie - 5.94%
- Lake Ontario - .93%
- Lake St. Clair - 70.16%
- Total Great Lakes - 4.18%
The increases in ice coverage happened quickly over the past few days, with the lakes nearly doubling ice coverage between Jan. 13 and Jan. 15.
For example, here is the ice coverage on the lakes and Lake St. Clair on Jan. 10.
- Lake Superior - 1.29%
- Lake Michigan - .39%
- Lake Huron - 1.92%
- Lake Erie - 0%
- Lake Ontario - .7%
- Lake St. Clair - 0%
- Total Great Lakes - 1.07%
According to the GLERL, the average ice coverage for mid-January is around 20%, but has
Arctic temperatures are expected to continue to stay in Michigan through this week, meaning we could get some more ice on the lakes.
