Ice Forecast
Issued by NWS
Issued by NWS
313
FZUS81 KCLE 212204
ICELIO
Great Lakes Ice Outlook
National Weather Service Cleveland Ohio
504 PM EST Fri Feb 21 2025
Active watches...warnings...and advisories on the Great Lakes can
be found at:
http://www.weather.gov/greatlakes/
5 Day Ice Discussion...
Ice coverage has increased on the Great Lakes over the last two days. Ice
coverage over all of the Great Lakes is now up to 45 percent, which is
above normal for this time of year. Fast ice is present across much of the
western and far eastern basins in addition the immediate lakeshore of
Lake Erie with the rest of the lake mostly ice covered. With that being
said, there are still some cracks in the open waters of Lake Erie. Much of
southwestern Lake Huron is ice-covered with fast ice present in Saginaw
Bay. Additional ice stretches along the lakeshore from roughly Alpena, MI
northward to the Straits of Mackinac. The Straits of Mackinac remain ice-
covered and the majority of northern Lake Michigan is ice covered. Ice
coverage along the lakeshore of Lake Michigan has increased, although it
remains thin, and fast ice remains over Green Bay. Ice concentration has
increased in nearshore waters and bays on Lake Superior and fast ice
remains present along the immediate southern lakeshore and around the
Apostle Islands and on Chequamegon Bay, and Whitefish Bay.
Temperatures will remain below freezing tonight and through Saturday night
in most spots before a warming trend unfolds late this weekend into early
next week. High temperatures will remain above freezing Sunday through at
least early next week and low temperatures will likely be above normal
Sunday through mid to late week. The warmer temperatures will likely
result in slower ice growth and possibly slight reductions in ice
coverage. West to southwest winds 25 knots or less will preclude an ice
floe risk over the next several days.
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 Sat Sat Night Sun Sun Night
West Superior 250/25 250/17 270/12 240/13 260/16
Mid Superior 260/25 280/15 170/11 170/15 260/13
East Superior 250/23 270/18 300/10 190/17 240/13
North Michigan 240/23 240/19 240/15 210/14 230/14
South Michigan 240/23 240/22 250/18 210/16 230/18
North Huron 240/19 250/19 270/14 210/13 190/15
Mid Huron 230/20 240/22 250/16 210/12 190/15
South Huron 220/17 230/19 240/13 200/12 190/16
West Erie 230/15 230/18 230/13 210/12 200/14
East Erie 230/23 230/25 240/18 200/14 200/17
Central Ontario 240/24 250/29 260/25 250/15 180/18
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 02/22 02/23 02/24 02/25 02/26 02/27
Duluth 12 37 17 37 30 41 32 44 30 39 21 32
Marquette 12 32 21 37 28 39 30 37 26 37 19 26
GreenBay 12 30 15 35 28 41 35 41 30 41 24 32
Milwaukee 14 32 23 39 30 44 35 44 32 44 28 35
Chicago 15 35 24 42 35 46 37 46 33 46 32 37
Muskegon 23 32 28 35 30 41 35 39 30 39 30 35
Alpena 17 32 23 35 26 39 30 37 23 37 21 28
Detroit 17 30 23 35 32 41 37 42 32 42 32 37
Toledo 17 30 21 35 32 41 37 44 33 46 35 39
Cleveland 17 32 21 37 33 44 39 44 33 44 35 41
Buffalo 17 32 23 33 28 41 37 41 32 39 30 37
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 Fri Feb 21:
LOCATION DATE NORMAL CURRENT
----------------------------------------
DULUTH, MN FEB 20 1559 1718
MARQUETTE, MI FEB 20 1324 1325
SAU_S_MAR, MI FEB 20 1059 995
GREENBAY, WI JAN 31 1076 945
MILWAUKEE, WI FEB 20 454 559
CHICAGO, IL FEB 20 361 468
MUSKEGON, MI FEB 20 300 361
ALPENA, MI FEB 20 780 793
DETROIT, MI FEB 20 340 451
TOLEDO, OH FEB 20 219 382
CLEVELAND, OH FEB 20 122 378
BUFFALO, NY FEB 20 387 424
NORMAL TEMPS FOR SELECTED LOCATIONS AROUND THE
GREAT LAKES FOR Fri Feb 21
LOCATION HIGH LOW
----------------------------------------------
DULUTH,MN 27 9
MARQUETTE,MI 28 12
GREENBAY,WI 33 15
MILWAUKEE,WI 36 21
CHICAGO,IL 39 22
MUSKEGON,MI 35 21
ALPENA,MI 32 13
DETROIT,MI 38 22
TOLEDO,OH 39 22
CLEVELAND,OH 39 23
BUFFALO,NY 36 20
$$