It’s been a good start to the New year as far as Water Levels on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay is concerned.
Chuck Southam of Environment Canada’s Centre for Inland Water says water levels on Lake Huron and Georgian bay are substantially up compared to one year ago.
The water levels on both bodies of water are about 35 cm above last January’s levels which were approaching the record lows recorded back in 1964.
Southam cautions that while the water levels are up this January, they are still below the monthly long term average level by about 31 cm.
He says the big question mark is what will happen over the next three or four months and that will determine what the water levels will like in the summer months.
He says if we have a wet spring, the levels in Georgian Bay and Lake Huron could increase by several more centimetres.
Southam says one of the reasons the lake levels are so high this January is because of all the precipitation the Great Lakes Basin received in the month of December.
He says several major snow storms and rain brought a lot of moisture into the region from the US Midwest and that helped recharge the lake levels.
Southam says during December the levels of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay usually go down by about 4 cm, but this time they actually went up by 6 c.m.
He says if the cold weather continues, that will help form ice on the lakes and Georgian bay and will result in less evaporation which also reduces the level of water.
