What low ice levels on the water this winter mean for Lake Erie and its ecosystem
It's been a dismal ice fishing season for anglers on Lake Erie.
A mild winter has kept the lake below the average ice concentration levels, affecting not only ice anglers but the lake's ecosystem and water levels.
According to the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, Lake Erie in February is just above 5% covered by ice. The historical average for Lake Erie during February is around 50%.
At the height of the 2023-24 winter between January and February, Lake Erie has seen a high ice concentration level percentage at a recorded 35.72%.
In past years, from 1973 to 2023, Lake Erie has seen ice concentration levels from January to mid-April reach 80% to 90%. There also have been ice-free measurements during that same period.
Ice levels on the Great Lakes
Lake Erie is not the only lake that is below the historical average this season. The Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory reports that all of the Great Lakes are below historical averages.
The historical average for the Great Lakes in February ranges from 30% to just above 40%. The Great Lakes are now at around 8% ice-covered.
In the most recent reports, Lake Superior and Lake Ontario are below 5% while Lake Michigan is just below 10%. Lake Huron leads the ice percentage for the lakes at above 13%.
The low ice levels' impact on Lake Erie
The Environmental Protection Agency reports that changes in ice cover can affect the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of a body of water.
For Lake Erie, the low ice levels mean recreational activities like ice fishing can't happen safely, if at all.
The reduced ice cover on Lake Erie can lead to increased evaporation and low water levels as well as an increase in water temperature.
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"Evaporation is going to be a big factor in water levels," said James Kessler, a physical scientist with NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab. "Ice cover and evaporation have a complicated relationship because, once the lake is frozen over, it can't evaporate. For the lake to freeze, and for the ice to form, the primary mechanism that it's cooling through is evaporation. So ice cover tends to change the timing of evaporation and not the amount."
Land-fast ice, or ice that is stuck to the shoreline, acts to dampen waves that would otherwise reach the shore and cause erosion.
Impacting the fish populations on Lake Erie
Some fish species in Lake Erie use ice cover to lay their eggs. Kessler said whitefish can lay eggs under the ice as it is a protected area with minimal wave action. Less ice cover means less likelihood that will occur.
Certain microorganisms have also been found in the ice. Those species are important in the food web.
How are the water and ice levels measured on Lake Erie?
"There are water level gauges that are like a network throughout the lake because at one point in Erie the water level is likely different than another point in Erie," Kessler said. "There are waves and currents where the lake oscillates back and forth. There's a master gauge which represents the lake as a whole. So you can do different ways of averaging those data together so you can get a single data for the water levels."
Since the 1970s, the ice cover is measured through consistent satellite data, which now is cloud-penetrating ― important in the Great Lakes' cloudy winters.
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Cloud penetration data can be found on the U.S. National Ice Center website.
Contact Nicholas Sorensen at nsorensen@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Lake Erie, other lakes fall below average ice concentration this winter
