Great Lakes Ice Page

Great Lakes Ice Cover – Current GLSEA Map

Great Lakes Surface Environmental Analysis - Current Water Temperature and Ice Cover

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NOAA GLERL – Great Lakes Surface Environmental Analysis (GLSEA) – Daily satellite-derived water temperature and ice cover – Click to view at source

Latest Daily Ice Chart – 2025–2026 Season

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NOAA GLERL – Latest daily ice chart (valid yesterday) – Click to view full season

1 Day Average North America Temperature Animation

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Robert Hart, PhD – Coolwx.com – Click to view at source

Great Lakes Ice Cover – Animated Historical Maximum (1973–Present)

Animated Great Lakes Historical Maximum Ice Cover 1973 to Present

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NOAA GLERL – Annual maximum ice cover 1973–present – Click for interactive version with controls

GLCFS Ice Nowcast/Forecast – Per Lake (Interactive)

GLERL’s Great Lakes Coastal Forecasting System (GLCFS) now provides ice concentration, thickness, velocity, and vessel icing as interactive animated products rather than static images:

Lake Superior Ice Nowcast/Forecast →
Lake Michigan & Lake Huron Ice Nowcast/Forecast →
Lake Erie Ice Nowcast/Forecast →
Lake Ontario Ice Nowcast/Forecast →

Current Season vs. Historical – Per Lake (Daily % Ice Cover)

Great Lakes Basin – All Lakes Combined

Great Lakes Basinwide Daily Ice Cover Current vs Historical

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NOAA GLERL – Great Lakes basinwide daily ice cover: current season vs. historical range – Click to view at source

Lake Superior

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NOAA GLERL – Lake Superior daily ice cover: current season vs. historical range

Lake Michigan

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NOAA GLERL – Lake Michigan daily ice cover: current season vs. historical range

Lake Huron

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NOAA GLERL – Lake Huron daily ice cover: current season vs. historical range

Lake Erie

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NOAA GLERL – Lake Erie daily ice cover: current season vs. historical range

Lake Ontario

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NOAA GLERL – Lake Ontario daily ice cover: current season vs. historical range

Annual Maximum Ice Cover – Historical Record (1973–Present)

All Great Lakes Combined

Great Lakes Annual Maximum Ice Cover 1973 to Present

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NOAA GLERL – Annual maximum ice cover 1973–present: all Great Lakes combined

Lake Superior

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NOAA GLERL – Lake Superior annual maximum ice cover 1973–present

Lake Michigan

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NOAA GLERL – Lake Michigan annual maximum ice cover 1973–present

Lake Huron

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NOAA GLERL – Lake Huron annual maximum ice cover 1973–present

Lake Erie

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NOAA GLERL – Lake Erie annual maximum ice cover 1973–present

Lake Ontario

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NOAA GLERL – Lake Ontario annual maximum ice cover 1973–present

All-Years Ice Concentration by Lake (CoastWatch)

Lake Superior – All Years

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NOAA CoastWatch GLERL – Lake Superior ice concentration, all years

Lake Michigan – All Years

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NOAA CoastWatch GLERL – Lake Michigan ice concentration, all years

Lake Huron – All Years

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NOAA CoastWatch GLERL – Lake Huron ice concentration, all years

Lake Erie – All Years

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NOAA CoastWatch GLERL – Lake Erie ice concentration, all years

Lake Ontario – All Years

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NOAA CoastWatch GLERL – Lake Ontario ice concentration, all years

Source Guide

NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL)
Ice Cover Page – https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/ice/
GLCFS Ice Nowcast/Forecast – https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/glcfs/
Ice Cover Database (1973–present) – https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/ice/glicd.php

NOAA CoastWatch – Great Lakes Node
Home Page – https://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/
Ice Concentration Statistics – https://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/statistics/great-lakes-ice-concentration/

Coolwx.com – Robert Hart, PhD
Home Page – https://coolwx.com/

Additional Resources
US National Ice Center – Great Lakes – https://usicecenter.gov/Products/GreatLakesHome
NWS Cleveland – Great Lakes Ice (Graphical) – https://www.weather.gov/cle/GreatLakesIce_graphical
Canadian Ice Service – Canadian Ice Service Latest Conditions →

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philohio

February 23, 2015 8:50 pm

Frozen lakes = cool summer.

CRS, DrPH

March 1, 2015 2:44 pm

Ice coverage on Lake Superior, Huron and Erie is at 95 percent or more, and ice coverage on the Great Lakes was recorded at 88.8 percent Saturday, according to NOAA CoastWatch, which is a little more ice than at this time last year, WZZM reports.
All the ice has made for another unpredictable shipping season in the lower Great Lakes, with some ships requiring icebreaker assistance to make it through, the Observer reported.
Last year went on record as having the second-highest percentage of ice coverage on the Great Lakes since records began in the 1970s, topping out at 92.5 percent on March 6, the Weather Channel notes.
Ice on the lakes delayed the shipping season and kept ice breakers busy last year, which cost the economy more than $700 million and nearly 4,000 jobs, Lake Carriers’ Association said in January, and also forced vessel operators to spend an unexpected $6 million last spring to repair ice damage on their ships.

http://bringmethenews.com/2015/03/01/great-lakes-nearly-covered-in-ice-which-could-mean-another-delayed-shipping-season/

CRS, DrPH

April 20, 2015 10:40 am

As follow-up to another impressive ice season on the Great Lakes, I thought that this article about shipwrecks was interesting: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-as-ice-clears-lake-michigan-shows-off-submerged-shipwrecks-20150420-story.html

CRS, DrPH

December 27, 2015 3:52 pm

Not much exciting going on with Lake Michigan during this warm ENSO winter, but this is pretty cool, I hope the video and sound open for all viewers!

As the winter ice began to thaw, the cool wind blew the crystalline ice sheet that subsequently formed onto shore, thus creating a magnificent sound that is unexpectedly found in nature. Dec. 21, 2015. (Jukin Media)</blockquote?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/jukinmedia-crystalline-ice-sheet-hit-20151218-premiumvideo.html

Clayton

December 30, 2015 9:44 am

Historical Annual Maximum Ice Coverage now includes 2015, see new link
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/ice/imgs/IceCoverAvg1973_2015.jpg

justthefactswuwt

Author

Reply to Clayton

December 30, 2015 10:50 pm

Updated, thank you

CRS, DrPH

February 18, 2016 7:27 pm

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-lake-michigan-ice-coverage-20160216-htmlstory.html
Lake Michigan might look frigid and icy around the edges, but it’s nothing compared with last year. A recent cold snap increased the amount of ice on the lake, but overall the mild winter has kept the lake free of extensive coverage.
As of Tuesday, about 16 percent of Lake Michigan was covered by ice, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab. That’s below average for the lake, normally around 27 percent.
Jia Wang, an ice climatologist at the research lab, said the reason for the low ice coverage is a combination of multiple weather phenomena impacting the Great Lakes, including El Nino.
As a result, Chicagoans could see more of the beach in the coming years, as low lake ice can cause more evaporation during the winter. The ecosystem and shipping industry also could see effects.

CRS, DrPH

December 16, 2016 7:51 am

Chicago Tribune article about “Arctic sea smoke” over Lake Michigan:

Smoke on the water. It’s not just a song lyric — it was hovering over Lake Michigan this morning.
Called arctic sea smoke or sea fog, this phenomenon happens when a mass of very cold air (about 3 degrees at the Harrison-Dever Crib, approximately 2.75 miles offshore at 9 a.m. Thursday) blows over warmer water (35 degrees at the same location). It’s similar to what happens when a football player removes his helmet, and “smoke” appears above his head during a cold game.
This process is aided by wind, which was gusting over the lake near 30 mph Thursday morning. “Winds are out of the west, from the land to the lake, driving cold air out over Lake Michigan,” National Weather Service Chicago meteorologist Ricky Castro said. “If winds were calm, then the effect might not be as dramatic.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-lake-michigan-arctic-sea-smoke-htmlstory.html

CRS, DrPH

January 19, 2017 8:43 am

The winter of 2016-2017 has not been nearly as cold as prior, the famous “ice caves” of Lake Superior are not accessible this year: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/midwest/ct-wisconsin-apostle-islands-ice-caves-inaccessible-20170118-story.html

CRS, DrPH

April 4, 2017 4:21 am

Interesting article about the possibility of reduced ice cover on the Great Lakes in the future:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-lake-michigan-ice-coverage-met-20170402-story.html

Two years ago, after the polar vortex set the Upper Midwest into a deep freeze for a second straight winter, scientists thought the weather phenomenon could reverse a 15-year stretch of diminished lake levels and reduced ice cover in Lake Michigan.
At first, they appeared to be right. Ice coverage across the Great Lakes reached 92.5 percent in 2014, the highest on record since 1979. With the widespread ice coverage acting as a capstone for evaporation, Lake Michigan water levels rebounded 3 feet between 2013 and 2015, an unprecedented surge from record low lake levels in 2013.
But two consecutive mild winters marked by light ice coverage and retreating lake levels are giving researchers pause. Though Lake Michigan water levels are expected to stay above the historic average through the next six months, some experts say the significant abnormalities dating back to 1997-98 — when one of the strongest El Ninos ever was recorded — may indeed be the new normal.
An El Nino is an irregular climate pattern characterized by warming ocean and atmospheric temperature, and typically generates unseasonably warm conditions during the winter months across the U.S. The 1997-98 El Nino brought widespread drought to parts of North and Central America and record-breaking rainfall and flooding to places like the West Coast. Most recently, another strong El Nino was in effect in 2015-16.

CRS, DrPH

January 18, 2018 8:54 am

Anthony, this excellent article has some of the best footage of Great Lakes shipping that I’ve ever seen! Ice breakers, lock operation etc. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/us/great-lakes-ships.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Mark Hansford

January 22, 2018 9:44 am

Mods – virtually all the pages on this site are currently on federal shut down and a lot of what was running was not being updated. Are there anyother reference sources for the great lakes that show as much detail?

CRS, DrPH

January 28, 2018 9:56 pm

Anthony, this is at best tangential to climate, but it is an interesting article about Great Lakes changing ecology and biota! http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-lake-michigan-water-clarity-20180126-story.html

CRS, DrPH

July 13, 2018 10:44 am

Interesting news about rising levels in Lake Superior, and the impacts when water is released into Lakes Michigan and Huron! (I hadn’t known that Michigan and Huron were treated as one big lake). http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-lake-michigan-superior-water-levels-20180709-story.html

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