The Great lakes, the winter of 2013-2015, and more. (updated today)

The year of 2013 was quite warm for most of the time. Eighty five degrees was getting to be common, even as early as mid march. The summer was rather hot. The fall was quite mild, and made it feel as if summer was becoming quite prolonged. However, as residents of North America, at least those in the Eastern half of the US, would soon find out, December would about to bring a rather abrupt and strong change. This would make for a winter which hadn't been seen since perhaps the 1990's. In fact, one might need to look even further back into the past in order to read about a winter with such strength. I live in Southern Michigan. This winter was quite long. It brought with it loads and loads of quite frigid cold fronts. These fronts would pass across the great lakes about once every other day, if not once every day. It seemed like just about every night brought with it subzero temps during January. In late December, nighttime temperatures were already dropping into the teens just about every night. Freezing cold fronts pushed as far south as Florida, causing frost warnings. Also, the Eastern US had loads and loads of lake effect snow early on in the season. One of the best examples are places such as Buffalo, and Michigan's upper peninsula Subzero temperatures had prevailed even into late March. By the spring of 2014, we still can't notice much of a change in the great lakes, except for one thing. There is a record amount of ice cover, at 92.2%. As residents of the Eastern United States would later find out, this would have undesirable consequences on the following summer. The summer of 2014 was quite mild. It was also rather wet, whether that has anything to do with the lakes or not. Because of this, the lake was quite cold during the summer, resulting in a summer with mostly below average temperatures. Summer temperatures couldn't really get above 85 degrees or so, except for really late august or September. As another truly harsh winter was approaching, we would later find out that the lake was going to change significantly, in another way. First, though, let's talk about the historic lake effect snow that happened in a couple of areas of New York. During the course of a day, during December of 2014, Boston received seven feet of snow. In Buffalo, snow bands could be witnessed over Lake Erie, looking like a white wall. After winter 2015 had finally ended, it was official. For the first time in over quite a while, the water levels in the great lakes had risen. Thirty inches, to be exact. Ever since 2014, the water levels were continuously receding. This can really make one wonder, is this where the water went instead of to places such as drought stricken California? Well, what really happened to the great lakes was caused by a combination of winter conditions. One was the constant frigid temperatures, which for most of the time, were under about twenty five degrees. The ice kept most of the lakes from evaporating due to the strong winds. Then, the lakes evaporated at quite a slow pace in the spring. So, is this increase in water levels going to somehow effect the upcoming winter? It's quite likely. Especially since this upcoming winter is forecast to be part of what known as El Nino. This phenomena is known to cause winters which are extra mild. Given that it's also known to cause record low water levels, we can also conclude that the lakes will certainly have a significant effect on climate here in the eastern US. So, the lakes will help make this winter warmer than it otherwise would've been. Thanks to the excess water levels, it would take winter temperatures quite a while to cool down the lakes. In the process, the lakes are quite likely to literally produce many, many, boatloads of lake effect snow. In fact, after the snow from Boston was taken care of and taken away to a dumping ground, the snow piles were so high, that they still remained through July, as they were still at least seven foot high by that time. And this is the main reason for why Michigan is known for having milder winters than normal, when it comes to temperatures- because of it's warming effect. On the other hand, the opposite situation is the reason for why Michigan has rather mild summers- because it takes a long time and a great deal of energy for the lakes to warm up. The influence on the climate here is part continental, like most of the rest of America, and part marine. I myself think this is quite an interesting combination. Near the lake, temperatures can be up to at least ten degrees different than in the mainland. Another interesting fact about the great lakes has also to do with how the lake heats up and/or cools down. It starts out with strong winds passing over the surface of the water. These winds, often times caused by strong storms, cause waves to form. Thanks to these waves, the water's surface area increases. So, this allows for the lakes to cool down or heat up faster than normal. Believe it or not, just like other large bodies of water, such as the sea, or ocean, these lakes have significant tides. When it comes to the great lakes, these tides can change so quickly that just by merely staring one can notice the changes. Also, the wind reverses direction every day, blowing onshore during the night, and offshore during daytime. People try to take advantage of these onshore winds by setting up wind turbines, some of which are offshore. In addition to moderating the seasons, the lakes also help induce rapid weather changes. The temperature one day may be fifty degrees, while the next will bring temperatures in the upper eighties.