Cruisers Forum
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 01-08-2014, 06:02   #1
Registered User
 
LakeSuperior's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2008
Boat: Teak Yawl, 37'
Posts: 2,980
Images: 7
Aug 1 Lake Superior Water Temp!

Well...here we are on August 1st, the surface water temperature at the Mid Superior buoy no. 45001 (60 nm Northeast of Hancock, MI) is 40 deg F.

Extremely cold and overcast weather all summer with a pervasive layer of fog on the lake has resulted in minimal solar heating of the top layers.

Contrast this with 65 deg F temp on the same date on 2012. A astounding 25 deg F delta.

Ref. Marine Buoy Forecast | Weather Underground
LakeSuperior is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2014, 06:41   #2
Moderator Emeritus
 
a64pilot's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Jacksonville/ out cruising
Boat: Island Packet 38
Posts: 31,351
Re: Aug 1 Lake Superior Water Temp!

Need to move man. I can't stand it in the Winter when the water temps down here get into the low 70's. I imagine you just can't have a warm day with 40 degree water cooling the air
a64pilot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2014, 07:23   #3
Senior Cruiser
 
GordMay's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario - 48-29N x 89-20W
Boat: (Cruiser Living On Dirt)
Posts: 49,138
Images: 241
Re: Aug 1 Lake Superior Water Temp!

On July 28-29/14, Muskegon's buoy thermometer recorded a water temperature drop from near 60 degrees to around 41 degrees in 24 hours.

I’d suppose, not as accurate as a Sea Buoy, but the MSU Remote Sensing Surface Temperature Map shows a temperature of only 32.2º F, just south of E. Otter Cove (86ºW x 48º N)
Michigan Sea Grant Coastwatch

The average annual water temperature of Lake Superior is about 40º F.
The all-time daily average high temperature record for Lake Superior is 71°F, which was recorded in mid-August 2010.
__________________
Gord May
"If you didn't have the time or money to do it right in the first place, when will you get the time/$ to fix it?"



GordMay is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2014, 09:48   #4
Registered User
 
nautical62's Avatar

Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Live Iowa - Sail mostly Bahamas
Boat: Beneteau 32.5
Posts: 2,307
Images: 12
Re: Aug 1 Lake Superior Water Temp!

Incredibly beautiful lake, but the cold water and black flies, have encouraged me to cruise else where.
nautical62 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2014, 09:50   #5
Registered User

Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Slidell, La.
Boat: Morgan Classic 33
Posts: 2,845
Re: Aug 1 Lake Superior Water Temp!

Temperature variation is of course to some degree normal, but here are some more:

As I type this, the Alert, Nunavat, Canada air temperature is 55 degrees F. At 82 degrees N. (Of course the sun is shining all day long)

Pretty much the entire Baltic Sea, at from 55 to 65 degrees N, is 65-70 F.

There is an area south southwest of Svalbard in the Arctic ocean about 100 x 50 miles across, that is about 60 F. At 78 degrees N. I guess because of an eddy or an upwelling, but still.

All data (except the surface temperature at Alert) are from the NCEP satellite page (NCEP SST Analysis ) and as such will probably be suspect to many....
jimbunyard is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2014, 10:26   #6
Registered User
 
ontherocks83's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Warwick RI
Boat: Catalina 30
Posts: 1,873
Re: Aug 1 Lake Superior Water Temp!

Lies you're all telling lies. Global Warming says none of this can happen so you must be lying.
__________________
-Si Vis Pacem Parabellum
-Molon Labe
ontherocks83 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2014, 10:52   #7
Registered User
 
LakeSuperior's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2008
Boat: Teak Yawl, 37'
Posts: 2,980
Images: 7
Re: Aug 1 Lake Superior Water Temp!

Quote:
Originally Posted by ontherocks83 View Post
Lies you're all telling lies. Global Warming says none of this can happen so you must be lying.
UMD (University of Minn - Duluth) got some pretty good press a few years ago talking about how the temperature of Lake Superior had been increasing due to the warming.

Well...this year it is decreasing due to the cooling! Not any articles so far about this new discovery.
LakeSuperior is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2014, 11:09   #8
Moderator Emeritus
 
a64pilot's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Jacksonville/ out cruising
Boat: Island Packet 38
Posts: 31,351
Re: Aug 1 Lake Superior Water Temp!

Quote:
Originally Posted by ontherocks83 View Post
Lies you're all telling lies. Global Warming says none of this can happen so you must be lying.
Nope the Global Warming experts say this is to be expected, as well as the absence of the devastating monthly storms we should have been seeing by now.
You wouldn't doubt the inventor of the internet would you
a64pilot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2014, 12:35   #9
Registered User
 
ontherocks83's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Warwick RI
Boat: Catalina 30
Posts: 1,873
Re: Aug 1 Lake Superior Water Temp!

Quote:
Originally Posted by a64pilot View Post
I'll not respond as I don't think this was meant to be a political debate, and I believe if I do, I know the eventual outcome.
Hey don't feel bad. At least you live in the south. I live in Kennedy country and have to fear speaking out.

And to keep it from getting political I will just be obnoxiously open about the obvious facts........Wow 40 degrees in August is so abnormally cold. That kind of cold is just shocking and unusually cold and not warm at all. I am glad it is warmer here even though it still has been cooler then normal and not hot.

Ok I'm done being a D*&^%$ B@#
__________________
-Si Vis Pacem Parabellum
-Molon Labe
ontherocks83 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2014, 12:36   #10
Registered User
 
crazyoldboatguy's Avatar

Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Chicago
Boat: Alden auxiliary ketch 48'
Posts: 950
Re: Aug 1 Lake Superior Water Temp!

Those water temps have lead many a story writer to lament that Lake Superior won't give up her dead. Imagine the water temps at the depths where many wrecks lie if the surface temps are so low.

I have know a few straight decker sailors who said many who work the boats never bothered to learn how to swim or even wear the cork jackets. What would be the point?

A couple years ago some SCUBA divers were on a wreck near Sturgeon Bay WI, in about 200'. The wreck, SS Lakeland, sank in 1924 & contains several new, off the assembly line, cars and some Canadian whiskey. Imagine their surprise when they found a motionless SCUBA diver near the wreck - dead. The body was still in the diving suit with all the gear attached. When the body was identified it turned out the man had disappeared during a dive nearly 14 years previously (1999). His body showed little signs of decay.
__________________
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
crazyoldboatguy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2014, 13:11   #11
Registered User
 
LakeSuperior's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2008
Boat: Teak Yawl, 37'
Posts: 2,980
Images: 7
Re: Aug 1 Lake Superior Water Temp!

The process of decomposition of a corpse in cold water is called saponification which it appears has been bastardized to soapofication by many.

http://healthdrip.com/adipocere-or-saponification/


Lake Superior does not give up her dead if the dead are in deep water. In the deeper waters it is so cold that the bacteria that gives off the gases that float a body work so slowly that the little gas that is created per unit time diffuses out instead of collecting in a bubble.

Bodies in the shallower waters of Superior do float up on occasion.

This year in Lake Superior life jackets are used so the body can be located and you can be declared deceased. This means your heirs don't have to wait 5 or 7 years to get the inheritance.
LakeSuperior is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2014, 13:24   #12
Registered User
 
ontherocks83's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Warwick RI
Boat: Catalina 30
Posts: 1,873
Re: Aug 1 Lake Superior Water Temp!

Quote:
Originally Posted by LakeSuperior View Post
This year in Lake Superior life jackets are used so the body can be located and you can be declared deceased. This means your heirs don't have to wait 5 or 7 years to get the inheritance.
Well that's incredibly depressing.
__________________
-Si Vis Pacem Parabellum
-Molon Labe
ontherocks83 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2014, 13:26   #13
Registered User
 
LakeSuperior's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2008
Boat: Teak Yawl, 37'
Posts: 2,980
Images: 7
Re: Aug 1 Lake Superior Water Temp!

Quote:
Originally Posted by ontherocks83 View Post
Well that's incredibly depressing.
Historically it is known as "black humor."
LakeSuperior is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2014, 13:27   #14
Moderator Emeritus
 
a64pilot's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Jacksonville/ out cruising
Boat: Island Packet 38
Posts: 31,351
Re: Aug 1 Lake Superior Water Temp!

Look up David Shaw's last dive, the recovery he was attempting the body had gone through this saponification, that may have contributed to Dave's demise
a64pilot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-08-2014, 13:33   #15
Registered User
 
LakeSuperior's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2008
Boat: Teak Yawl, 37'
Posts: 2,980
Images: 7
Re: Aug 1 Lake Superior Water Temp!

Quote:
Originally Posted by a64pilot View Post
Look up David Shaw's last dive, the recovery he was attempting the body had gone through this saponification, that may have contributed to Dave's demise
This is a mind boggling story especially for divers.
LakeSuperior is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
lake superior, water

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Lake Superior Factoids GordMay Great Lakes 25 31-03-2022 04:30
Westerbeke 46 Temp Sender vs. Temp Switch zboss Engines and Propulsion Systems 8 29-10-2013 21:11
Apostle Islands, Lake Superior bobola Great Lakes 5 29-08-2006 11:19
Lake Superior GordMay Great Lakes 0 07-10-2005 05:59
Ranger 23 in Lake Superior OK? austi012 Monohull Sailboats 1 04-08-2005 11:53

Advertise Here


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 03:09.


Google+
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Social Knowledge Networks
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.

ShowCase vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.