Lake Erie Tides

[airdvr1227]

I'm not joking. Water level has been down all year. This morning I see a Facebook post from Rescue Marine...If your boat is still in the water please check on it this morning. We had water levels in the Marblehead area yesterday that approached four inches BELOW low water datum, this morning they reached sixteen inches ABOVE low water datum. That is a substantial fluctuation.

Also learned a new word; the swaying back and forth of the lake water from one end to the other is called a seiche.

Class dismissed

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: Lake Erie Tides

You should see the St. Mary's River up here between Superior and Huron. Because it is a relatively shallow, narrow extension of the Lake Huron basin at the very northern tip of a very large very volumess body of water, we can see water levels fluctuate 10-12 inches in a matter of hours. The wind literally pushes all the water to the other end of the lake and leaves us high and dry. It seldom seems to go the other way.

We are currently 12 inches below chart datum. We are currently equal to the lowest ever recorded water levels in the Mich-Huron basin. We are 29 inches below the long term monthly average for Oct.

The Great Lakes water levels are a big deal.

 

[foodfisher]

Re: Lake Erie Tides

I don't see why large bodies of water would not be affected by gravitational forces.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Lake Erie Tides

... and now you're learning aboot "wind tides". The wind will push water from one end/side of the lake to the other and it's more noticeable in large bodies of water. These are hard to predict and will create current where current isn't usually present.

If you can fish the "wind blown" "high tide" shores, the fishing can be awesome!!!

 

[Bluepike]

Re: Lake Erie Tides

It sure can be a pain in the butt, one week there's four feet of water under your boat and the next week it's sitting on the bottom. It is kind of amazing what a constant west wind will do to the lake.