Rapidly melting snowpack in northern Michigan and days of excess rainfall across the state have created flooding problems on both peninsulas. But how is all this rain and snowmelt affecting our Great Lakes?
Based on Lake Huron’s main water gauge, we can estimate the recent flow of water into Lakes Michigan and Huron.
Keep in mind that the water levels of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are the same because the two lakes are connected by free-flowing water in the Straits of Mackinac region.
There is a “Master Water Gauge” at Harbor Beach on Lake Huron in Thumb, Michigan. The standard water level gauge is a type of water level gauge that has been around for decades.
This is the water level of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron on March 15.
Lake Michigan and Lake Huron water levels
This is a surprising estimate because the water is blown by the wind. I can tell you that we’ve had southwest winds at Port Beach lately, which means the lake level there is actually lower than on the east side of Lake Huron.
Between March 17th and yesterday, April 15th, I would call the water levels in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron up about 17 inches.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave me a figure of 800 billion gallons of water per inch in Lakes Michigan and Huron.
That means 17 inches times 800 billion gallons last month is 13.6 trillion gallons of water.
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That’s a lot of water, and the excess is still flowing into Lakes Michigan and Huron.
13.6 trillion gallons of water would cover the entire state of Michigan, with a depth of 14 inches. This amount of water will cover all lower 48 states with a depth of one quarter inch. That doesn’t sound like a lot of water, but we’re talking about every inch of our country.
Now, let’s look at the amount of new water coming from Lakes Michigan and Huron and how much fresh drinking water this will provide the world.
The world’s 8 billion people drink an estimated 5 billion gallons of water every day. The 13.6 trillion gallons of new water will provide the world with drinking water for 2,720 days, or about seven and a half years.
That’s a lot of fresh water.
Please visit MLive.com/weather to stay informed about current flooding conditions in Michigan.
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