glos.us Great Lakes Observing System: Observational data for the Great Lakes region
data mappingforecastswikinewsabout GLOS
Products

Data Mapping:
 >> harborview
>> observations
explorer
>> get observations

Forecasts:
 >> hec now/forecasting
>> hec flows
>> weather conditions
>> weekly water levels

Offsite Data:
 >> surface water temps
>> more lake conditions

Great Lakes Headlines
Help Support Us
Contact glos.us:

>> Email listserve
>> Email glos

A partner of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System.
IOOS logo

Forecasts

Weather Forecast
National Weather Service
Enter a city and state or zip code for the current National Weather Service forecast:

Examples: "Albany, NY", "12233"


Weekly Water Levels Forecast
New! Update for Friday February 5, 2010 (includes data summary)

Weather conditions: Arctic air continues to invade the Great Lakes Basin keeping temperatures below freezing. A few areas experienced light snow showers during the last few days with accumulations totaling less than an inch. The current weather pattern is keeping major storm systems to the south of the Great Lakes basin. Looking forward to the upcoming weekend, cold temperatures will persist with some areas seeing light snow showers.

Water Level Conditions: Currently, Lakes Superior and Michigan-Huron are 3 and 5 inches, respectively, higher than their levels last year at this time. Lakes St. Clair is 5 inches below its level of a year ago, while Lake Erie remains near last years level. Lake Ontario is 8 inches below its level of a year ago. The water level of Lake Superior is expected to decline by 2 inches, over the next month, while Lake Michigan-Huron will remain steady. The water levels of Lake St. Clair, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are expected to increase by 4, 2 and 1 inches, respectively, over the next month. Over the next few months, Lake Superior and Lake Michigan-Huron are forecasted to be above their water levels of a year ago. Lakes St. Clair, Erie and Ontario are forecasted to remain below last year's levels over the same time period. See the USACE Daily Levels web page for more water level information.

Current outflows / channel conditions: The outflow from Lake Superior into the St. Marys River is forecasted to be below average. The outflow from Lake Huron into the St. Clair River is forecasted to be near average. Above average flows are expected for the Detroit River, Niagara River, and St. Lawrence River. Ice build-up in the connecting channels can greatly affect flows and may cause significant fluctuations in water levels.

Alerts: Users of the Great Lakes, connecting channels and St. Lawrence River should keep informed of current conditions before undertaking any activities that could be affected by changing water levels. Mariners should utilize navigation charts and refer to current water level readings.

Other Forecasting
Also see: Huron-to-Erie Corridor Flows modeling product (requires Google Earth plug-in)