Long-gone beaches emerge as lake levels dip at last

Lakeshore residents are finding a wider beach outside their doors this year, and that’s not likely to end in the coming months.

That’s good news for anyone who enjoys walking along Lake Michigan. Just a year ago, the beach was underwater as lake levels hit record highs.

“We’re 16 inches or so below where we were a year ago,” Keith Kompoltowicz, watershed hydrology chief for the Detroit office of the Army Corps of Engineers, said Tuesday.

And, he said, the Corps of Engineers is forecasting that lower lake levels will be the norm at least into spring 2022.

“In general, we expect levels will remain below where they were at in 2020,” he said, noting that’s when record high lake levels were recorded throughout the year.

Port Washington Harbormaster Dennis Cherny said the changing lake levels have been obvious to those watching.

“They’re not down as far as they were in 2017, but they’re down significantly,” he said.

Cherny noted that the Army Corps reported Lake Michigan was two inches lower in September than it was in August and 14 inches lower than it was in September 2020.

Lake levels were expected to fall another three inches in October, the report said.

Since fixed piers in the main marina were converted to floating piers in 2019, the facility is prepared for both high and low levels, Cherny said.

But in the north slip marina, where fixed piers are still in use, low lake levels can cause boat owners to bring out ladders to help people get on the vessels, he said — but the lake would likely have to decrease another two feet before that would happen.

“I’m not expecting that,” Cherny said.

And, he said, the lower lake levels will revive the beach, something that many people have missed in recent years.

“It needs to be cleaned up to make it an enjoyable place,” he said.

It’s been a tumultuous decade, with lake levels hitting record low levels in 2013 and record highs just seven years later. 

And this year has been quite unusual, Kompoltowicz said, noting that in 2021 Lake Michigan reached its peak in January “which rarely ever happens.”

It’s only happened three times since records were kept, he noted.

The lake is usually lowest in February, Kompoltowicz said, then it rises throughout the spring due to precipitation and melting snow. It peaks in July, then declines in fall.

This year, he said, the lake level peaked in January, declined through June, then increased a couple inches through August.

“Without some very wet conditions late in summer, the lake would have steadily declined,” Kompoltowicz said.

The reason for the lower lake levels this year is simple, he added — a very dry winter and spring.

Although the Army Corps has projected lower lake levels in the coming months, what happens in spring will depend on the weather, Kompoltowicz said.

“If we have heavy snows this winter and a wet spring, they could rise again,” he said. “If we have another dry winter, they could go down some more.”

But, he added, “we don’t expect a large scale rise in lake levels.”

Right now, Kompoltowicz said, the biggest factor in lake levels is evaporation.

“The Great Lakes are at some of their warmest temperatures this time of year in their history,” he said. 

And that sets up the potential for a significant amount of evaporation as cold air hits the warm water.

“If you’re on Team Lower Lake Levels, this could be a pretty good setup for that,” Kompoltowicz said.

Whether lake levels rise or fall next year is difficult to predict, he added, because it’s all dependent on the weather patterns.

But one thing he is willing to bet on — there won’t be lake level records set in the next six months.