Great Lakes Ice Forecasts - Text

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Great Lakes Ice Outlook (CLEICELIO)

Issued Monday Wednesday Friday (product only valid when ice is present on the Great Lakes)

    
                        
280
FZUS81 KCLE 252303
ICELIO

Great Lakes Ice Outlook
National Weather Service Cleveland Ohio
603 PM EST Wed Feb 25 2026

Active watches...warnings...and advisories on the Great Lakes can
be found at:

http://www.weather.gov/greatlakes/

5 Day Ice Discussion...

Great Lakes ice coverage is holding fairly steady over the last week,
checking in at 37 percent today. Meanwhile the ice coverage on Lake Erie
has decreased to about 70 percent with a sizable patch of open water east
of the Lake Erie Islands and extending along the north shore to Long
Point. Ice has been decreasing on the far west end of the lake from the
mouth of the Detroit River to Toledo. Fast ice has greatly decreased and
we will continue to see movement of the ice on Lake Erie with periods of
enhanced winds. On Lake Huron, the southern third of the lake remains
mostly ice covered with extensive ice on the Saginaw Bay. Shore ice
extends around the remainder of Lake Huron and most of Lake Superior. Ice
coverage is lowest on Lake Michigan where there is fast ice near the
Straits of Mackinac and with extensive ice coverage on the Green Bay. The
remainder of Lake Michigan is mostly ice free.

Temperatures will be cold enough for some ice growth on Lakes Superior and
Huron through Thursday night, with a warming trend getting underway to end
the week. Above normal temperatures will slow or limit ice growth
everywhere on Friday and across the southern Lakes on Saturday. Arctic air
will arrive in the Upper Great Lakes behind a cold front Friday night and
a Gale Watch is in effect for western portions of Lake Superior for Friday
night. Below normal temperatures will reach the southern Great Lakes
again on Sunday. Given the variability in temperatures over the next 5
days, ice conditions are not likely to see considerable changes through
the weekend.

The Great Lakes ice analysis products can be found at:

http://usicecenter.gov/Products/GreatLakesHome

and

http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/ice/#currentconditions

     MAX WIND (KNOTS) AT EACH SITE FOR THE 12 HOUR FCST PERIOD

       Location     Tonight     Thu    Thu Night    Fri    Fri Night
  West Superior      210/13    220/13    230/21    280/29    320/17
   Mid Superior      320/13    180/13    220/21    300/34    320/27
  East Superior      320/14    200/16    200/20    300/37    320/30
 North Michigan      300/12    220/15    210/20    290/22    320/18
 South Michigan      320/13    210/14    210/20    210/19    330/17
    North Huron      300/19    210/14    200/19    260/27    290/33
      Mid Huron      290/16    200/13    200/17    200/20    290/20
    South Huron      290/16    200/14    200/19    190/22    290/19
      West Erie      300/10    170/07    210/16    210/19    260/12
      East Erie      270/13    250/08    200/11    200/20    230/15
Central Ontario      280/22    290/12    190/11    190/20    230/20

A full graphical forecast of wind on the Great Lakes can be found at:
http://www.weather.gov/greatlakes/

        Temperature  Forecasts for Selected Cities

 Location   02/26   02/27   02/28   03/01   03/02   03/03
   Duluth   8  39  26  41   5  15  -6  17   5  30  19  37
Marquette   8  30  24  44  12  15   3  17   5  26  17  35
 GreenBay  10  35  28  48  19  26  10  24  14  32  19  39
Milwaukee  19  41  30  57  28  32  19  28  21  32  23  39
  Chicago  26  44  35  59  33  39  26  32  26  35  26  39
 Muskegon  19  35  30  46  28  33  17  28  17  32  19  37
   Alpena  10  28  24  44  21  23  10  17   8  23  14  33
  Detroit  19  35  28  51  37  44  21  30  19  30  19  39
   Toledo  21  41  30  55  37  46  24  32  19  32  19  39
Cleveland  21  35  26  50  39  46  26  32  21  32  21  41
  Buffalo  19  28  19  44  35  41  21  26  14  26  14  37

A full graphical forecast of the Great Lakes forecast temperatures
can be found at http://www.weather.gov/greatlakes/

FREEZING DEGREE DAY ACCUMULATIONS AT SELECTED STATIONS
COMPARED TO NORMAL CALCULATED ON Wed Feb 25:

LOCATION           DATE   NORMAL CURRENT
----------------------------------------

   DULUTH,   MN  FEB   24 1605 1730
MARQUETTE,   MI  FEB   24 1374 1459
SAU_S_MAR,   MI  FEB   24 1108 1307
 GREENBAY,   WI  FEB   24  931 1079
MILWAUKEE,   WI  FEB   24  464  668
  CHICAGO,   IL  FEB   24  364  449
 MUSKEGON,   MI  FEB   24  311  547
   ALPENA,   MI  FEB   24  820 1010
  DETROIT,   MI  FEB   24  348  589
   TOLEDO,   OH  FEB   24  220  590
CLEVELAND,   OH  FEB   24  120  482
  BUFFALO,   NY  FEB   24  403  779


NORMAL TEMPS FOR SELECTED LOCATIONS AROUND THE
GREAT LAKES FOR Wed Feb 25

LOCATION     HIGH LOW
----------------------------------------------

    DULUTH,MN  29  11
 MARQUETTE,MI  29  13
  GREENBAY,WI  34  17
 MILWAUKEE,WI  37  22
   CHICAGO,IL  40  24
  MUSKEGON,MI  37  22
    ALPENA,MI  33  14
   DETROIT,MI  39  23
    TOLEDO,OH  40  23
 CLEVELAND,OH  41  25
   BUFFALO,NY  37  21

$$



                

Freeze-Up/Break-Up Outlook (NWS CLE)

Typically only issued in Nov/Dec. Otherwise, below text will be blank. 

Canadian Daily Ice Forecast (click me)

National Ice Center 30 day ice outlook (click me)

Canadian 30-day ice outlook (click me)