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The Great Lakes
This page is intended to centralize conditions and resource links about the Great Lakes rather than repeating the same info in multiple places which is a prescription for getting information out of sync. Individual run descriptions will still be found on the location pages that are home to those runs. Currently Lake Superior (as of 2024) is our only “Great” lake with its own dedicated page. That will likely change as we get more information about paddling on the other lakes.
Conditions
From Great Lakes Wind and Waves (article about wind sports on the Great Lakes) “Great Lake wave riding is an extreme sport largely due to the extreme elements involved. The stronger the winds, the larger the waves. Our strongest winds are usually during late fall cold fronts where water temperature plummets into the low 50s or high 40s (Ed. The water can get colder than that). Wind chill is also an extreme danger. If you can imagine an epic outer reef swell in Maui, now try to imagine kiting in the middle of the ocean storm that generated those waves and you will be one step closer to understanding our waves.”
Region wide
- Current Data
- Great Lakes Weather Portal (Waves, Wind, Gusts, Temp)
- Understanding & Background
- …
Lake Erie
- Buoys
- Water Temperatures
- …
Lake Huron
- Buoys
- Water Temperatures
- …
Lake Michigan
- Buoys
- NOAA
- Surface Water Temperatures
- Historic Averages
- …
Lake Ontario
- Buoys
- Water Temperatures
- Historic Averages
- Observations (scroll to the bottom, Lk. Ontario is the last in the list)
- …
Lake Superior
If you look at the maps of historic wind speed and direction averages along the shore of Lake Superior (find on windalert.com) you will find significant variance between locations that are not very far apart. This tends to reinforce the comments that Tim Traynor makes in his videos about the variability and effects of microclimates on local winds on Lake Superior.
- Buoys
- Superior Watersheds Website
- Water Temperatures
-
- …
Paddling the Lakes
(some of these can just be circular references if we don't yet have specific downwind run descriptions yet for a Great Lake in relation to a USA state or a Canadian province - but these links will be the places going forward to look for run descriptions on any of the lakes)
Lake Erie
- Canada
- USA
- …
Lake Huron
- Canada
- USA
- …
Lake Michigan
- USA
- Indiana
- Illinois
- …
Lake Ontario
- Canada
- USA
- …
Lake Superior
-
- Canada
- USA
- Minnesota & Wisconsin (See North & South Shores)
- Michigan … (See Downwinding & Surfing)
- …
Resources
- General
- Great Lakes Paddlers (seem to mostly paddle waterways - lakes, rivers near Great Lakes)
- Surf Kayaking the Great Lakes Interview with Keith Wikle
- Surfski on the Great Lakes Nick Murray from TCSurfski podcast
- Lake Michigan
- The Gales - Storm Gathering (facebook)
- Shipwrecks
- Close to Traverse City
- Lake Ontario
- …
Taking Care of the Great Lakes
- Lake Superior Circumnavigation PaddlingtheBlue Podcast
- Our Water 1.5 hr video about their trip and protecting the lake
- …
