I agree, not looking good this weekend, calling for rain, you know the rain will only be a mist. Snow is gone again and lake temp is staying up, not good.

I was referring to the several FEET of snow that area's NORTH of the GL region used to get, that in turn melted and fed the tributaries and eventually the great lakes

Pretty sure the 8ft of snow that was in Ottawa when I was there a few years ago WASN'T lake effect snow, but, maybe you could clear that up for me.

Following your theory the lack of snow over the last few years would mean an INCREASE in water levels, would it not???

Yep, we need the great lakes to freeze all winter to keep it from evaporating,and TONS of snow up north, the snow on the states side of the country dont really help much, its the snow up far north that trickles down into the great lakes and helps...

so far this winter is just like last years and we are gonna be screwed next boating season, the western basin of Lake Erie is shallow enough now, hate to see it worse...

+1 if it gets any worse we will have to anchor out and walk in when we go to pib.

I'll take a stab at explaining it...lake effect is formed when warmer air from over the lake dumps moisture as the air passes over the cooler land, keeping the snowfall (moisture) closer to shore, which eventually melts and ends up back in the lake. When the winter is warmer, it causes more water to evap from the lake, and since the land is warmer than the lake, the moisture in the air gets carried further inland, so most of it doesn't end up back in the lake.

Here's another fact that doesn't help the Great Lakes. About 90% of the snow that falls in Ontario melts into river that drain NORTH into Hudson Bay. Very few northern Ontario rivers drain into Superior.
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The weather "experts?" Around here on the various weather channels and news programs are predicting a "normal" winter for snowfall, we aren't supposed to get TONS, but we aren't supposed to get none, however these are the geniuses who can't predict rain accurately a day ahead of time, so, I wouldn't bank on there predictions being overly accurate )-:

Ya know, I forget there is a whole nuther country north of the lakes, and I have no idea of your climatology. In fact, I just figured you guys had snow all year up there

Now that you have shed new light, I am hoping for 12-18 ft of system snow for our neighbors to the north, to then melt off and fill the lakes.

Eh, what we need is a few systems to come though and leave a wide spread snow pack on the entire region. The last time that happened in NY was 2/11!

Here is Hammond Indiana on Lake Michigan. We used to be able to drive our inflatable under the ramps