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It was a slow start to the ice-making season on Lake Superior and other Great lakes this winter. Temperatures for the first half of January ran a good 10 degrees warmer than normal across the Great Lakes region. 

As of Jan. 14, just 3 percent of the Great Lakes and 6 percent of Lake Superior were covered with ice.

Fast-forward to our multiday subzero streak in the past seven days and temperatures have been running more than 10 degrees colder than average across the Great Lakes basin.

As you would expect, that’s making ice quickly across the Great lakes.

Overall ice cover on the Great Lakes has gone form just 3 percent on Jan. 14 to a combined 45 percent in just the past two weeks! Lake Superior has gone from 6 percent ice-covered to  31 percent in the past two weeks.

So our persistent subzero cold is making ice quickly now in the Great lakes.

It’s interesting to note that Lake Erie is almost completely covered by ice now at 94 percent. That limits open water that can make lake-effect snow, effectively shutting down the lake-effect snow season in the lee of Lake Erie.

Ice cover on Lake Superior usually reaches peak in early March. So we still have a long way to go in the lake ice season for the Great Lakes. 

The last time Lake Superior was almost completely frozen over was in 2019. 

We continue to see persistent arctic air through this week. One benefit of arctic air masses is they are extremely dry. That means plenty of sunshine this week. Highs will continue to run a few degrees above zero this week.

Overnight lows will run in the teens below zero north to single digits below zero south.

Milder air eases into Minnesota starting this weekend. Highs by Sunday and Monday may reach to the more comfortable 30s in the south with 20s in the north.

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts model still suggests a stronger thaw late next week around Feb. 5-7.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Paul Huttner

Author

Lake Superior and other Great Lakes are quickly making ice in this persistent subzero cold wave.

Cold persists; Lake Superior ice cover growing rapidly

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