Being retired and living in the Detroit suburbs, I have easy access to two Great Lakes (Huron and Erie), one good lake (Lake St. Clair), and a couple very fine rivers (the St. Clair and Detroit). Fall and early winter were mostly comparatively warm, so I saw little ice on these bigger bodies of water. I’d been watching the weather forecast and knew we were in for an extended arctic blast, so I took time to check out my nearby lakes and rivers in early January. This week, I braved single digit temps to see what had happened partway through the two-week superchill.
THE DAILY BUCKET IS A NATURE REFUGE. WE AMICABLY DISCUSS ANIMALS, WEATHER, CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, WATERS AND NOTE LIFE’S PATTERNS.
WE INVITE YOU TO NOTE WHAT YOU ARE SEEING AROUND YOU IN YOUR OWN PART OF THE WORLD, AND TO SHARE YOUR OBSERVATIONS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PURPOSE AND HISTORY OF THE DAILY BUCKET FEATURE, CHECK OUT THIS DIARY: DAILY BUCKET PHENOLOGY: 11 YEARS OF RECORDING EARTH'S VITAL SIGNS IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS
Pakalolo posted a recent story about winter 2023-24 Great Lakes ice formation. This Daily Bucket is an update and boots-on-the-ground report.
Don’t just look at the title photo and think all is well. Lakes St. Clair and Erie are very shallow and freeze quickly. With a warm up and rain in the forecast, I don’t expect much of the ice will last. Meanwhile, let’s start with the big picture, courtesy of the U.S. National Ice Center, as of January 2nd, with virtually no ice on any of the Great Lakes:
Bigger. Lake St. Clair is the heart-shaped lake north of western Lake Erie. The St. Clair River runs from Lake Huron to Lake St. Clair. The Detroit River runs from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie.
And here’s the status as of January 14th:
Four panel chart as of January 14, 2024. Bigger
An improvement from the beginning of the year. And about the same level as this time last year, which is shown in the bottom left map. But, the long term trend is not good. Here’s this year’s ice formation compared to the past 50 years, with the average highlighted in the dashed line:
Time for photos! I’ll follow the water’s current and start at Lake Huron and end at Lake Erie.
Lake Huron
Lake Huron at Lighthouse Park, Port Huron, Michigan. January 1, 2024. Those are Long-tailed Ducks, with Ontario windmills in the background. Zoomed
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Lake Huron at Lighthouse Park, January 17, 2024. There was little ice on the water, although there was some slushy water. The mist is the water evaporating in the single digit temperature. The water is flowing left to right, and the wind blowing from right to left. The chop isn’t very visible here, but it was high enough to hide any ducks.
St. Clair River
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Long-tailed Duck flying up the St. Clair River, January 1, 2024 at Port Huron. It was a relatively calm day.
I don’t have any photos of the river from January 17th, but it looked nothing like this. Although there was little ice, the river was as choppy as I’ve ever seen it. The downstream current (left to right) was at war with the wind coming from right to left, with gusts up to 29 mph. This created huge swells, moving upstream against the current. It was not hospitable for ducks. I didn’t stick around either.
Lake St. Clair
Lake St. Clair, metro beach at Lake St. Clair Metropark, January 1, 2024.
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Lake St. Clair at metro beach, January 17, 2024. This photo was taken from the same spot as the prior photo, but looking east instead of north. In case you’re wondering, those are ice fishing shanties.
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Also Lake St. Clair, a little north of metro beach, January 17, 2024. This is where the Clinton River empties into the lake, so there were strips of ice-free water. A closer look shows one of the reasons why I like the cold weather — Ducks!
Detroit River
MacArthur Bridge across the Detroit River, linking Detroit with Belle Isle, January 1, 2024.
The river on January 1, 2024, from the southern tip of Belle Isle, looking downstream at the Ambassador Bridge. Windsor, Ontario is on the left and Detroit, Michigan on the right.
Looking downriver from Belle Isle, on January 17, 2024. The ice was generally not stationary, except along the shore. Otherwise, it was traveling downstream with the current.
The shipping channel of the Detroit River at Belle Isle, looking across to Windsor, January 17, 2024. The ice was moving at a good clip from left to right. No ships were navigating these waters.
Lake Erie
Lake Erie at Cove Point, Lake Erie Metropark, January 2, 2024. Look closer and see the Tundra Swans.
Weather, road conditions and time have kept me from visiting Lake Erie since this photo. Hopefully another Bucketeer or Kossack has some information or photos to share.
I’ll close with one last photo. Since this diary opened with Lake St. Clair, I’ll share a close up photo of its shoreline on January 17th. Click here to enjoy the amazing mini ice sculptures!
What’s up in nature in your area?