Nearly 20 Percent Of Great Lakes Still On Ice
By John Dodge
CHICAGO (CBS) -- In the aftermath of one of the coldest winters on record, 19 percent of the Great Lakes are still covered in ice.
As of Sunday. much of the ice cover is on Lake Superior and Lake Huron.
The northern part of Lake Michigan also has ice.
Typically, by mid April, only about 3 percent of the Great Lakes are on ice.
Lake Michigan set a new record for ice coverage in March.
The National Weather Service said the cold start to March caused ice levels on the lake to increase quickly, pushing ice coverage to 93.29 percent.
That broke the record of 93.1 percent set in 1977.
At its peak, the five Great Lakes were about 92 percent covered in ice in early March.
The brutal winter and chilly spring are also keeping Lake Michigan's waters cold.
Monday's water temperature in Chicago was 53 degrees.
Over in Michigan City, Ind., it was only 45 degrees.
That would rule out a comfortable lake swim any time in the next few weeks.
