Ice Forecast
Issued by NWS
Issued by NWS
745
FZUS81 KCLE 122106
ICELIO
Great Lakes Ice Outlook
National Weather Service Cleveland Ohio
506 PM EDT Wed Mar 12 2025
Active watches...warnings...and advisories on the Great Lakes can
be found at:
http://www.weather.gov/greatlakes/
5 Day Ice Discussion...
Ice on the Great Lakes has become fairly limited over the last week and
should generally continue to decay through the next several days. The
greatest ice cover is on Lake Erie, with fast ice remaining from near
Ashtabula, OH points east. Otherwise, on Lake Huron Saginaw Bay remains
mainly ice-covered with shore ice along the eastern shore. On Lake
Michigan Green Bay remains ice-covered, with very limited shore ice along
the Michigan coast. The Straits of Mackinac remain ice-covered. On Lake
Superior ice persists along much of the southern shoreline, with Whitefish
Bay remaining significantly ice-covered as well. The open waters of Lakes
Superior, Michigan and Huron have very little ice.
Temperatures will be well-above normal through Saturday across the western
Great Lakes and Sunday across the eastern Great Lakes, leading to
continued decay of the ice through this weekend. A strong low pressure
will track from the central Plains on Friday to near western Lake Superior
on Saturday. Strong southerly winds (20-30kt sustained with higher gusts)
will likely develop across eastern Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake
Huron, and Lake Erie late Friday into Saturday. These winds will turn
northwest from west to east Saturday into Sunday as a cold front passes,
with wind speeds diminishing behind the cold front.
The Great Lakes ice analysis products can be found at:
http://usicecenter.gov/Products/GreatLakesHome
and
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/ice/#currentconditions
MAX WIND (KNOTS) AT EACH SITE FOR THE 12 HOUR FCST PERIOD
Location Tonight Thu Thu Night Fri Fri Night
West Superior 250/07 090/16 100/16 090/14 090/14
Mid Superior 260/10 120/12 130/17 130/16 130/20
East Superior 200/15 130/11 140/17 120/19 130/21
North Michigan 180/06 110/07 150/11 120/12 130/16
South Michigan 050/07 110/11 150/17 140/20 150/21
North Huron 140/10 150/09 140/14 140/16 150/19
Mid Huron 140/09 120/07 150/13 150/16 150/19
South Huron 120/10 100/08 150/15 140/18 150/22
West Erie 060/11 080/10 080/10 140/13 160/18
East Erie 050/14 010/06 070/07 140/11 160/17
Central Ontario 080/13 100/11 120/09 140/15 150/14
A full graphical forecast of wind on the Great Lakes can be found at:
http://www.weather.gov/greatlakes/
Temperature Forecasts for Selected Cities
Location 03/13 03/14 03/15 03/16 03/17 03/18
Duluth 30 50 35 55 44 48 19 35 19 44 30 41
Marquette 28 50 30 53 44 53 28 33 23 39 28 41
GreenBay 30 57 39 64 48 57 30 41 23 48 35 53
Milwaukee 32 48 41 62 48 55 32 41 26 50 39 57
Chicago 37 50 44 66 53 64 35 44 30 55 44 64
Muskegon 30 57 42 68 50 57 35 39 30 42 35 51
Alpena 26 46 30 50 44 60 39 46 26 41 30 48
Detroit 28 53 37 68 55 71 50 55 33 50 39 60
Toledo 32 50 35 75 59 75 50 53 32 50 39 64
Cleveland 33 48 41 73 59 73 53 57 35 46 39 60
Buffalo 32 53 35 68 51 66 53 64 35 41 32 53
A full graphical forecast of the Great Lakes forecast temperatures
can be found at http://www.weather.gov/greatlakes/
FREEZING DEGREE DAY ACCUMULATIONS AT SELECTED STATIONS
COMPARED TO NORMAL CALCULATED ON Tue Mar 11:
LOCATION DATE NORMAL CURRENT
----------------------------------------
DULUTH, MN MAR 09 1748 1773
MARQUETTE, MI MAR 10 1539 1445
SAU_S_MAR, MI MAR 10 1243 1111
GREENBAY, WI MAR 10 1003 888
MILWAUKEE, WI MAR 10 457 500
CHICAGO, IL MAR 10 327 347
MUSKEGON, MI MAR 10 315 314
ALPENA, MI MAR 10 920 804
DETROIT, MI MAR 10 336 388
TOLEDO, OH MAR 2 211 357
CLEVELAND, OH MAR 10 79 294
BUFFALO, NY MAR 10 427 397
NORMAL TEMPS FOR SELECTED LOCATIONS AROUND THE
GREAT LAKES FOR Tue Mar 11
LOCATION HIGH LOW
----------------------------------------------
DULUTH,MN 34 17
MARQUETTE,MI 34 18
GREENBAY,WI 40 22
MILWAUKEE,WI 42 26
CHICAGO,IL 46 29
MUSKEGON,MI 42 27
ALPENA,MI 38 19
DETROIT,MI 45 28
TOLEDO,OH 46 28
CLEVELAND,OH 46 29
BUFFALO,NY 42 26
$$