The recent cold is making the Great Lakes ice cover grow rapidly. All of the Great Lakes have seen the amount of ice grow in the past week, but Lake Michigan's ice cover has almost doubled in the last seven days.
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The amount of ice currently is still behind last winter at this time, but is catching up quickly.
The entire Great Lakes now are 70 percent covered in ice, according to the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. This compares to 47 percent a week ago, and 81 percent last winter at this time.
Lake Superior has 74 percent ice, and was only 42 percent covered just seven days ago. Last year Lake Superior was 91 percent covered with ice.
Lake Michigan has seen the greatest ice growth. The ice on Lake Michigan has gone up 88 percent since last week and now ice covers just over half of Lake Michigan. This currently still is much less than last year, when 81 percent of Lake Michigan was covered with ice.
Lake Huron's satellite image impresses me the most. It looks like the whole lake is starting to ice up. Officially Lake Huron has 79 percent ice. One week ago is was 62 percent ice. However, last year Lake Huron had 91 percent ice cover.
So the ice around Michigan's Great Lakes is expanding rapidly. The ice will continue to grow this week, with the polar vortex bringing another shot of record cold.
I think we could see the ice cover catch up to last year. One reason is it looks like a light wind pattern starting midday this coming Friday. That lighter wind may last for a few days. I've found the lakes not being stirred up by wind to be one of the biggest factors for quick ice growth. Secondly, There looks to be another surge of arctic air coming late next week.
If you have any pictures of the growing ice, please share them below in the comments section.
MLive Chief Meteorologist Mark Torregrossa has been forecasting Michigan weather for more than 25 years. He's been chief meteorologist at three television news stations in Michigan, and he's an avid gardener and hunter. Email him at mtorregr@mlive.com and find him on Facebook at facebook.com/mark.torregrossa and Twitter @weathermanmark