Lake Superior Water Levels

W

Woody

Well-Known Member
Nov 20, 2007
9,388
N. Wisconsin/Lk Superior
Boat Info
2005 420DA
Engines
Cummins 6CTA8.3
The water level should be going up now. The area been hit with lots of rain. In some areas heavy rains caused flooding and lots of damage. The Houghton/Hancock area is in bad shape, the waterway is full of trash. I'm still on the other side of the lake. My slip neighbors are telling me not to come.
 
Woody said:
The water level should be going up now. The area been hit with lots of rain. In some areas heavy rains caused flooding and lots of damage. The Houghton/Hancock area is in bad shape, the waterway is full of trash. I'm still on the other side of the lake. My slip neighbors are telling me not to come.
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Lake Superior ha. Out of curiosity, when do you typically pull your boat for the winter?
 
midexp said:
Lake Superior ha. Out of curiosity, when do you typically pull your boat for the winter?
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Last year I launched May 12 and pulled out on Sept 25. This year I launched June 1 because of ice. Ice was actually still mentioned last week in a nearshore weather forecast.

I run across the end of the lake to get to storage. I think I'll haul out a week earlier this year trying to improve my chances for a good weather window.....last falls run over there I don't need to repeat.
 
midexp said:
Lake Superior ha. Out of curiosity, when do you typically pull your boat for the winter?
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Ha...I was going to respond flippantly "he's probably going to start stocking up on antifreeze and oil change supplies next week".

I think I have a short boating season but those guys up on Superior have us beat by a full month of boating, easily. It's no wonder you can find late 90's boats up there that are practically brand new...
 
RollerCoastr said:
Your water becomes our water, so your water problems become ours. Our parking lot has flooded several times already.
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The outflow from Lake Superior is metered so I'd think high water in Erie is more likely due to weather and the other factors within the Lake Michigan, Huron, Erie watersheds themselves.
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Woody said:
Last year I launched May 12 and pulled out on Sept 25. This year I launched June 1 because of ice. Ice was actually still mentioned last week in a nearshore weather forecast.

I run across the end of the lake to get to storage. I think I'll haul out a week earlier this year trying to improve my chances for a good weather window.....last falls run over there I don't need to repeat.
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They told me the meeting was north Michigan.... they weren’t kidding

Beautiful area

I have not seen one boat in the water on the drive up to Houghton :)

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Blueone said:
They told me the meeting was north Michigan.... they weren’t kidding

Beautiful area

I have not seen one boat in the water on the drive up to Houghton :)
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After Labor Day the weather(wind) takes over and snow has been mentioned in marine forecasts already 2-3weeks ago. Seeing few boats once away from marinas is one of the things I like. On 10/6 I took my boat over to Bayfield, WI for 10/8 haulout. I never saw even one boat on the water from dock to dock, 120 miles. I had been waiting 2 weeks for a window between gales and was beginning to think I'd be on the hard under shrink wrap at Houghton this winter. Next year I'm pulling out as soon as possible after Labor Day.

If you have the time run up to Copper Harbor on 26 through Eagle River, Eagle Harbor, to Copper Harbor. At Copper Harbor drive up on Brockway Mountain Drive, you'll love the view. You can run back to Houghton from Copper Harbor on 41(check out the snow barometer). If you can find the time you'll be glad you did. Then start planning next summers run up here.:)
If you come up I'll share this with you, there's room for one more boat:cool:
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Woody said:
If you have the time run up to Copper Harbor on 26 through Eagle River, Eagle Harbor, to Copper Harbor. At Copper Harbor drive up on Brockway Mountain Drive, you'll love the view. You can run back to Houghton from Copper Harbor on 41(check out the snow barometer). If you can find the time you'll be glad you did
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Woody ... I ran up to Copper Harbor today...just as you said I took 26 then caught Brockway and took that into Copper Harbor. That is some beautiful country up there. Thanks for the recommendation....definetly a worth while trip.... A few pics... I saw a lot of deer only managed to catch one on my phone.

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Too bad you weren't blessed with a little sunshine. On good days looking NW from Copper Harbor you can see Isle Royale, it's about 55mi out from there. Did you see the snow barometer along 41?

Just a FYI, when you were at Copper Harbor you were closer to polar bears than to Lake Erie.:eek:
 
We could give away about 2 feet of water in Lake Michigan and be perfect. In 2013 my depth finder had 2.5-3.5, this year 7-8.5. That is a huge swing and causes no end of issues for the marina.

MM
 
Woody said:
Did you see the snow barometer along 41?
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Hey... I was just glad it wasn't snowing..it was very windy and cold up there.
I saw the barometer... But didn't understand what it was doing... The top said 390" I think.... I didn't stop... Is it tracking snow fall. Some one told me the area averages 200" of snowfall a winter.... I liked the plastic on the road for the snowmobile crossings from the paths coming out of the woods that was cool.... Snowmobiles must be everywhere in the winter
 
Yup, 390

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BTW, did they ever fix the Brockway road? It was pretty bad a few years back. Some riders even turned around. There was dispute as to who would fund it. City, County, State...
 
Yes it was In really good shape .. odd pot hole but nothing out of the ordinary.
 
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MonacoMike said:
We could give away about 2 feet of water in Lake Michigan and be perfect. In 2013 my depth finder had 2.5-3.5, this year 7-8.5. That is a huge swing and causes no end of issues for the marina.

MM
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David DeHaan photo of the Grand Haven pier yesterday. Levels are high on Lake Michigan but still down from last year.
 
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