Do the Great Lakes freeze?

The amount of ice on the Great Lakes impacts perhaps no one greater than the freighter shipping industry. read more

You’ll notice how early the freeze began, with ice reported in the bays and harbors of the Great Lakes as early as the end of November, as opposed to the usual time of mid-December. From that early build—due to cold temperatures in the fall and early winter in the Great Lakes—the ice just continued to grow. read more

We have it pretty good in the Great Lakes area because of the moderating effects of the water. This winter is very mild so, there is a good chance that most all of the lakes won't freeze. I have spent many days in the winter with my surf cast outfits catching steelhead from shore in February on Lake Ontario. Superior freezes more than the others. read more

GLSEA (The Great Lakes Surface Environmental Analysis) is a digital map of the Great Lakes surface water temperature and ice cover which is produced daily at GLERL.The lake surface temperatures are derived from NOAA polar-orbiting satellite imagery. read more

(In 2002, just 9.5% of the Great Lakes froze over during the winter, the lowest extent on record, while the greatest extent was 94.7% in 1979.) And no lake is as iced over as Superior, where the extent is 95.3%. read more

Time will tell if 2015 is the year that record is toppled. For now, here's what our lakes are looking like, as of Saturday, February 21, 2015. Lake Superior. Ice coverage on February 21: 91.4 per cent. 2014 maximum: 95.7 per cent. Lake Superior is famously the coldest and largest of the Great Lakes, with ice lingering into June in some years. read more

Maximum ice cover on the lower lakes (like Lake Erie) normally occurs between mid-February and end of February. Maximum ice cover on the upper lakes (like Lake Superior) normally occurs between end of February and early March. read more