THUNDER BAY — Lake Superior is feeling the impact of an exceptionally warm and dry summer.
For the first time in more than seven years, its level fell below normal by the end of last month.
The International Lake Superior Board of Control reported Wednesday that the biggest of the Great Lakes is now three centimetres below its long-term average for the end of September.
More significantly, this is 27 centimetres (10.6 inches) below the level of just one year ago, and 37 centimetres (14.6 inches) below where it was two years ago.
"It is quite a gap," said a spokesperson for the International Joint Commission.
Public affairs advisor Sarah Lobrichon said the last time Lake Superior was at its seasonal long-term-average level was April 2014.
The lake had been consistently higher than normal until August this year.
In 2019, Lake Superior set monthly high-water records in July, August and September, and fell just shy of the all-time high mark for October.
Barring a protracted period of exceptionally wet or exceptionally dry weather, the IJC's current six-month projection is for Lake Superior to remain near the historic seasonal average.
