It’s that time of the year when water levels are normally low. We were spoiled with high water levels throughout most of the season. My last trip through the rapids I noticed, or should I say the prop noticed just how low the water in the Seagull River has gotten. No need to worry about it now as we’ll most likely get some fall rain to aid us in the last month or so of boat navigation through the rapids.

     Here’s the scoop on the Great Lakes water levels from the Duluth News Tribune.

Published October 03, 2012, 12:00 AM

Lake Superior level dropped in September

The level of Lake Superior crashed 4 inches in September, a month the big lake usually drops only 1 inch, as continued warm, dry weather saps the Great Lakes of water.

By: John Myers, Duluth News Tribune

The level of Lake Superior crashed 4 inches in September, a month the big lake usually drops only 1 inch, as continued warm, dry weather saps the Great Lakes of water.

The International Lake Superior Board of Control reported Tuesday that Lake Superior now sits 15 inches below its long-term average for Oct. 1 and 4 inches below the level at this time last year.

The board notes that rainfall for the entire Lake Superior basin was well below normal in September, a trend that has continued since July and which was compounded by very low snowfall totals last winter. Duluth, for example, had only 0.84 inches of rain in September, 3.27 inches below

normal, and sits 6.6 inches below normal for rainfall since July 1.

Drought conditions have hit Lakes Michigan and Huron even harder, with the lakes down another 6 inches in September, a month they usually drop only 2 inches. The lakes are now 28 inches below their long-term average for this time of year and 13 inches below the Oct. 1 level from 2011.

Lakes Michigan and Huron are expected to flirt with their all-time record low levels set in 1964 and 1965. Those lakes saw their highest levels in 1986. Lake Superior fell to its record low in April 1929 and rose to a record high in 1986.

The low water already is affecting how much cargo bulk taconite and coal carriers can take on for their trips on the lakes. In some areas, the low water is affecting recreation boat access as well.

The upper Great Lakes generally fall from September to April as water gets locked up in ice and snow, and then rise from April to August as snow melts and spring and summer rainstorms hit.

In addition to being drier than normal of late, September was the 15th consecutive month of above-normal temperatures in Duluth, the second-longest such streak in recorded history. Part of that period included Duluth’s warmest summer in recorded history and the most 70 degree days in a calendar year. Scientists say higher temperatures spur increased evaporation and sink water levels even lower.