Three of the Great Lakes have reached record lows for ice coverage this year: Lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior. Lake Erie and Lake Ontario have so far tied their record lows for ice coverage.
Historical average ice coverage for mid-February is between 40 and 45%; the Great Lakes currently have about 2.9% coverage, said scientist and meteorologist with the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory Bryan Mroczka.
"We have never seen values this low in mid-February for the Great Lakes," said Mroczka.
Mroczka said sustained, warmer temperatures are to blame for the lack of ice.
"Our reliable ice records go back 51 years. And when we look at the trends, we are losing about 5% of the Great Lakes ice per decade. We've also lost about 27 days of the ice season on the Great Lakes," Mroczka said.
A number of ice-dependent, annual events have been canceled this year: the Isle Royale wolf-moose survey was suspended for the first time in 65 years, and the state Department of Natural Resources canceled the black sturgeon fishing season due to low ice cover.
