Great Lakes water temperatures
Clear skies over the Great Lakes (except for Lake Superior) allowed for VIIRS data to record temperatures over the Great Lakes in the early morning of 5 August 2021. In situ data from moored buoys closely match ACSPO (Advanced Clear-Sky Processor for Oceans) values. Southwestern Lake Erie is warmest, with temperatures as warm as 78ºF (pink/white enhancement). Green Bay and Saginaw Bay are as warm as 75ºF. The analysis below (from this link at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab) also shows values largely in agreement with the above analysis.
AWIPS-ready files of these fields are available from the CIMSS LDM feed.
There plots of basin-wide average temperatures suggest that the Great Lakes (except for Lake Superior) are a bit cooler in early August of this year than they have been at this time in the recent past.
