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A warm, dry summer erased seven years of high-water levels for Lake Superior, returning the lake to its yearly 602.17 feet average. Last year the lake was almost one foot higher in August than this past August, reports the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Detroit.
While the Lake Superior basin has experienced dryer than normal conditions starting late spring, other great lakes have seen more rain, especially in August and July. Even so, the Corps said the Great Lakes Basin as a whole experienced less rainfall than average, and water levels are lower than they were last year.
The Lake Superior basin received 2.29 inches of rain in August, which accounted for 73 percent of its average rainfall, while all of the other great lakes received above average precipitation during August.
Over the last two decades September has been a month where Lake Superior has set monthly records for high and low water levels, but that will end this year.
If there is some relief, less water in Lake Superior will cause less erosion and flooding along the shore that has negatively affected people’s homes and cabins.
Going forward, the Corps predicts that based on an increase in evaporation and anticipated future weather, the big lake will compare to 2018-2019 average lake levels for the next six months.
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