Warm Waters in the Great Lakes
MODIS Estimates of Lake Surface Temperature
Persistent heat over the upper Midwest and Eastern United States for the first half of 2012 have helped warm Great Lakes surface water temperatures. MODIS estimates of Lake Surface temperature, above, show only a small region of temperatures cooler than 60 F in the entire Lake system in a very small region near Isle Royale in Lake Superior. (Click here for maps of Lake Superior temperatures. You can also find data for Lakes Huron, Michigan, Erie and Ontario). All other temperatures exceed 60 F. The 8-day average of MODIS SSTs over the lake, from Terra and from Aqua, obtained from this interactive site also shows the warmth. An SST image from AVHRR (the image doesn’t include all of Lake Superior) also shows warm temperatures.
