Windy's Forecast for the Great Lakes
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Bruce Beach Shore Break
<p>On Monday, the Conference of Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers organized a head-to-tail cook-off that challenged culinary students at Kendall College in Chicago to use the entire fish in their dishes. The event was the latest effort in a push toward utilizing 100% of the fish caught in the Great Lakes. <a href="https://www.audacy.com/wbbm780/news/local/great-lakes-fish-industry-aim… the full story by WBBM – Chicago, IL.</a></p>
<p>Lake Erie is behind its typical freezing schedule, which depends on different weather patterns, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials. The recent cold snap has helped Lake Erie freeze at a faster pace, though if temperatures warm, it can thaw just as quickly. <a href="https://www.ideastream.org/environment-energy/2024-01-17/lake-erie-is-1… the full story by WKSU – Kent, OH.</a></p>
<p>Large freighters were on the move in Door County, Wisconsin, on Monday morning to find somewhere to go during the winter season. The Winter Fleet will remain in port typically until the Soo Locks on Lake Superior open again for the season; this year, that’s scheduled for April 24. <a href="https://wtaq.com/2024/01/23/great-lakes-fleet-prepares-for-2024-shippin… the full story by WTAQ – Green Bay, WI.</a></p>
<p>Last Friday, northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana were hit with an extremely localized but intense band of lake-effect snow created by whirlwinds known as mesovortexes. They are formed by convergence, or a gathering of winds near the ground, and are akin to tiny low pressure systems. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2024/01/22/mesovortex-lake-effec… the full story by The Washington Post.</a></p>
<p>The city of Buchanan, Michigan, is a new member of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, an international coalition of more than 240 municipal and regional U.S. and Canadian mayors and local officials working to advance the protection and restoration of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River basin. <a href="https://www.wsjm.com/2024/01/22/buchanan-joins-great-lakes-and-st-lawre… the full story by WSJM – Benton Harbor, MI.</a></p>
<p>The Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Fisheries Division will be hiring a full-time malacologist – a biologist who studies mollusks, including mussels and clams – which will kickstart a two-year project to centralize mussel data collected across the state. <a href="https://www.michiganpublic.org/environment-climate-change/2024-01-20/mo… the full story by Michigan Public.</a></p>
<p>Steel production at mills in the Great Lakes region, clustered mainly along the south shore of Lake Michigan in Northwest Indiana, fell by 10,000 tons last week, representing a decrease of 1.5%. <a href="https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/business/great-lakes-steel-producti… the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.</a></p>
<p>Amidst severe winter conditions last week, a Windsor-based photographer perched at Point Pelee on the northern shore of Lake Erie to photograph ice volcanoes, also known as ice shelves. The stunning formations appear when powerful winds hurl water against the shoreline, where it freezes on impact and builds up an ice shelf layer by layer. <a href="https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/windsor-photographer-braves-icy… the full story by The Windsor Star.</a></p>
<p>The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) stocked Michigan waters with six different species totaling more than one million fish and 14.5 tons at 103 locations throughout the state at the end of 2023. That came after the DNR announced it had stocked waters with more than nine million fish as of September 2023. <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/2024/01/dnr-stocked-michigan-waters-with-145… the full story by MLive.</a></p>
<p>After a mild start to winter in Wisconsin, most lakes across the state are now frozen after a week of bitterly cold temperatures. But in the future, Wisconsin’s state climatologist says residents can expect more winters where lakes take this long to freeze — or winters where lakes never freeze. <a href="https://www.wpr.org/news/why-did-wisconsin-lakes-take-so-long-to-freeze… the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.</a></p>
 | Water Levels - Lake Huron at Goderich from CHS |
 | Beach Water Quality latest monitoring data from Grey Bruce Public Health Unit |