Monday, February 20, 2012

Mild Winter - Little Ice on the Great Lakes

Temperatures reached the 40s once again this weekend making it 36 days since meteorological winter began (December 1st) that we've recorded 40° or higher - putting us in the top ten of number of days that have reached 40°.  The latest March outlook from the Climate Prediction Center highlights the month with above average temperatures for a good portion of the U.S. (the Stateline included) and above average precipitation.

What's even more interesting is that the mild weather has allowed very little ice to form on the Great Lakes this season.  This image is a visible satellite image of the Great Lakes taken late morning Sunday.  Notice Lake Superior where you would typically see at least some ice along the shores - very little ice is found.  The white coloring you see over the eastern portion of the lake is actually cloud cover.  Same thing across the eastern Lakes.  Almost all of Lake Michigan is open for business and water temperatures remain in the low to mid 30s.  If this view were expanded back to include more of the Midwest and Plains you would also find very little snow cover!  To me, I think this is amazing and goes to show just how mild this winter has been.

The 40° weather will continue for the next couple of days, but by the end of the week we'll tap a little into the Canadian air which will drop our temperatures back near average, if not slightly below. 

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