Great Lakes Water Levels Expected to Hit Record Highs, Flooding Occurring or Imminent in Several States

Heavy rains have water levels surging in the Great Lakes, contributing to flooding along the lakeshores and rivers in several states.

The US Army Corps of Engineers released a monthly bulletin indicating come of the Great Lakes water levels may reach record highs this summer from a heavy winter snowpack melt and rivers swollen from spring rains.

“Preliminary estimates indicate that all of the Great Lakes received above-average precipitation in the month of April,” the bulletin states. “Each lake exceeded their average April precipitation by at least 24%.” Lake Erie’s precipitation for the month was the highest above average, at 37%.

There are flooding concerns in Ontario, Canada also, where the Toronto Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) issued shoreline hazard warnings.

When one side of one of the Great Lakes is running high, the opposite is typically much lower, from winds pushing the water from one end of the elliptically shaped lake to the other.

 

 

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