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Water in Great Lakes lower in 2020, but expect to remain high

"Lake Michigan" by kevin dooley is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

All five of the Great Lakes closed out 2020, lower than they were a year ago, but the upper lakes are projected to remain high in the new year. 

Since peaking in July, water levels in Lakes Michigan and Huron have dropped about a foot.

But the lakes are still 31 inches above average. Meanwhile Lake Superior is nine inches higher than normal.

Deanna Apps is a scientist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Detroit.

Heading into 2021, she says it looks like they’ll remain below record levels but…

“There is potential to see near-to-above record-high water levels come Spring and early Summer.”  

The Army Corps says Lakes Michigan and Huron are expected to drop another 3 inches, before starting to rise in March.