Monday, June 8, 2020

Tropical rains could swell already high Great Lakes' levels

Forecasters are telling us that heavy rains from a tropical storm will move north into Wisconsin Tuesday from the Gulf of Mexico, adding to already high Great Lakes water levels.
Lake Michigan-Huron is currently 13 cm (5 in) above the previous record-high beginning-of-month level set in 1986. The level is 92 cm (36 in) above average, and 18 cm (7 in) above last year’s beginning-of-June level.   
Looks to me like more proof of the climate change science - heavier rain events in our region - which Scott Walker's data deletionmeister Cathy Stepp scrubbed off the DNR's relevant webpages.

Update - The storm track has the rare weather system moving north into the state and west of Madison.

Monday morning National Weather Service forecasters in Sullivan issued maps detailing the expected path and it appears Cristobal will track into the state from southwest to northeast. That could mean areas west of Madison up to Fond du Lac could get 1 to 2 inches of rain with the possibility of localized flooding.
Remember that the Madison area was severely flooded in 2018.  
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Not what an already-battered shoreline needs right now - a UW-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Science expert discusses that, here - so heads-up.
Lake Michigan shoreline north of Milwaukee's Bradford Beach, April 30, after one of several storms over the prior six months.


2 comments:

Badger 26 said...

LYet, if these storms track, as predicted, from southwest to northeast, the accompanying winds could, very possibly, NOT agitate most of the waters in Lake Michigan? I grew up in Racine; lived only four city blocks from Lake Michigan. The worse storms that created the most damage usually came from the northeast. Those winds drove the water onshore all along Racine's waterfronts. Storms from the southwest usually blew out and AWAY from the shoreline.
Of course, the shorelines south of Racine are relatively high bluffs, mainly sedimentary soils. There are very few rocky bluffs to fend off high waves, propelled by high winds. A lot of residents in that area have lost appreciable amounts of land from their property. Some of them have simply moved out of their homes and relocated their residences.

Anonymous said...

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