Great Lakes Ice Cover

The current ice cover across the Great Lakes is 63.4%. That looks like it will only continue to increase over the next couple of weeks as the Arctic air remains firmly established across the Great Lakes region.

How does the current ice cover stack up with the ice cover from this time last year? Last year set records for many stations as one of the coldest winters recorded. The Great Lakes also reached one of the highest ice extents on record. The highest since the late 1970’s in fact. Last year in early February, the Great Lakes had a total ice cover of 87%. They are far behind that total right now, but perhaps these next few weeks will help play catch up.

Here is a look at the ice cover extent since the 1970’s. The average annual maximum ice cover is 51.4%. So even if the lakes are below last years ice cover at this time, they are still above the annual average maximum.