Isle Royale Forums

The Mott Island webcam has finally thawed out and is again producing clear views. With the Park opening in just 3 weeks can a thaw of the Island be in the offing? Of course additional snow is yet to come. It's been near record setting in the U.P. of Michigan this winter. We'll have to wait and see.

Less ice cover = more open water = more snow.
I've often wondered how the annual snowfall on the Island compares to the other high lake effect areas of Superior. I've never seen any measurement keeping but I suspect it could be slightly higher than even the Keweenaw at times since it is susceptible to lake effects from all directions.

The moose/wolf researchers record weather information when they're on the Island. You can see what snowfall they record in their annual reports.

Most "lake effect" comes from the NW. The amount of fetch, distance air flows across water, is important. Isle Royale is too close to the mainland Ontario to receive any substantial NW lake effect snowfall. The Keweenaw on the other hand, has a long fetch and a great elevation rise. That's the reasons Calumet has seen over 300" of snow this current winter. Last year too.

treeplanter wrote: Tue Mar 26, 2019 7:33 pmMost "lake effect" comes from the NW. The amount of fetch, distance air flows across water, is important. Isle Royale is too close to the mainland Ontario to receive any substantial NW lake effect snowfall. The Keweenaw on the other hand, has a long fetch and a great elevation rise. That's the reasons Calumet has seen over 300" of snow this current winter. Last year too.

That's why I qualified my speculation with "at times". The researchers are only on the Island for a few weeks. Due to compaction and sublimation an almost daily, season long effort is needed to make an accurate measurement total. And indeed, Calumet has been hit harder than usual. January and February have been so heavy that it's been difficult to even snowmobile. Here's some pics of the Calumet High School track field last month. I used to live in the Keweenaw.