MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – After a season of record water levels on the Great Lakes, those who track those conditions say levels typically start to go down a bit this time of year.
That’s true for Lake Michigan right now, but experts say the water will be higher than usual for years.
On many places along the Lake Michigan shoreline finding a spot to get out of the water, can be a challenge.
In Manitowoc, concrete walkways are surrounded by surf crashing against the land. And in the waters of Green Bay, waves lap the rocks at Communiversity Park.
“The Bay of Green Bay, and Lake Michigan are at very high levels. They haven’t been seen since the mid-1980s. The water impacts are substantial. I know there’s people putting in retaining walls due to wave action,” said Roy Eckberg, National Weather Service Meteorologist.
Eckberg tells FOX 11 wind in late July created that wave action, known as a Seiche.
“That produced flooding at the Auxiliary Coast Guard Station in Green Bay, the boat landing was inundated, and on the Little Suamico River, there was flooding near some homes.”
Eckberg says years of above-average rainfall, combined with expanded winter ice cover are factors.
“Last year, Green Bay set their all-time record precipitation. As of August 10th of this year, we are at the wettest pace on record.”
Dean Haen, Port of Green Bay Director, tells FOX 11 the high lake levels are giving commercial shipping a boost.
“Green Bay’s tonnage is up 20 percent. So we’re having a really good year. We’ve had four consecutive increasing tonnage years. So it gives you a perspective on how much more we’ve been moving. But at the same time, even though we did 20 percent more tonnage, we didn’t bring in one extra ship.”
Meanwhile, seasonal change may be on the horizon. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lake Michigan levels dropped two inches in the past month, and are expected to go down another two inches by the middle of September.
“That is the forecast, but Mother Nature can change that pretty quickly. If you get a couple of rounds of heavy rain, but typically on average, that would be expected,” said Eckberg.
The topic of Great Lakes Water Levels was discussed at the annual meeting of the Wisconsin Commercial Ports Association.
This year, the group met in Manitowoc for the two-day event.
There are more than a dozen ports around the state represented by the association.
