Ice Coverage on Great Lakes 89 pct: NOAA
Ice coverage on the Great Lakes is nearing 90 percent, reveals high resolution satellites images from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The entire Great Lakes is at 88.8 percent ice coverage, with the highest totals coming from Lake Huron and Lake Erie at about 96 percent ice coverage according to Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, part of NOAA.
The Laboratory, which monitors the ice coverage of the five Great Lakes, updated some satellite images Saturday showing how much ice is actually covering the Great Lakes.
Lake Superior is close behind those two with 95 percent coverage, followed by Lake Michigan with 73 percent and Lake Ontario with 70 percent.
According to NOAA data, the Great Lakes ice coverage is up over 3 percent. This time last year, there was 85.4 percent coverage. The record for ice coverage occurred in 1979 with 95 percent of the lakes frozen, according to the National Climatic Data Center. Last year's winter maxed out at 91 percent, the second highest coverage.
Nathan Jeruzal, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said ice covered water is expected to reach its peak within the next couple of weeks. He added ice buildup on Lake Michigan can reduce the impact of lake effect snow because the ice acts like a land mass.