Icebergs spotted on Lake Superior – In June!

Ice Age Now | Jun 10, 2014

A Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources warden has discovered large ice floes near Madeline Island.

Lake Superior – 6 June 2014 – Courtesy Wisconsin DNR

DNR Marine Warden Amie Egstad spotted the floating ice – which was covered in resting seagulls – while doing a routine check of commercial nets. (I hope Amie doesn’t get reprimanded for reporting the truth.)

“There was this big iceberg along with other ice packs and bergs floating around backside of Madeline Island area east towards Saxon Harbor,” Egstad said.

Oops. NOAA said the lakes were already ice-free.

The sight was at odds with data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) over the weekend, which declared all of the Great Lakes to be ice-free.

The lakes normally thaw by the first week of May, but an unprecedented seven months of ice coverage made this a record-breaking year.

Lake Superior – 6 June 2014 – Courtesy Wisconsin DNR

In early March, ice on the Great Lakes reached 92.5% coverage — the second highest on record.
And, according to NOAA, ice has never lasted this late into the year. “We saw the ice as early as November 25 and now into June,” NOAA scientist George Leshkevich told the Washington Post. “In terms of duration I would think it’s up there, if not at the top of the chart [in the historic record].”

According to a National Geographic report, the Great Lakes are expected to be colder this summer because of the record-breaking ice cover during this past winter.

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/06/07/dnr-warden-spots-icebergs-on-lake-superior/

http://www.policymic.com/articles/90827/it-s-june-and-here-s-what-lake-superior-still-looks-like

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2014/06/05/unprecedented-parts-of-lake-superior-covered-in-ice-almost-a-week-into-june/

Thanks to Jack Hydrazine, Questioning Fellow, Greg, Adoni and Lee Holsen for these links