Trackerbuddy Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 How big does a lake have to be to affect the local weather? Long story short I'm looking for cool summer's in Wisconsin. Locations along Lake Michigan are consistently cooler. Do smaller lakes affect temperature? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NegativeEPO Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 Wisconsin’s weather is just horrible. Even worse if you live next to Lake Michigan. I guess some people like miserable weather though. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 Smaller bodies of water can indeed affect temperatures, but it is on a much smaller scale. Lake Michigan is capable of reducing temperatures by much more so that would be the place to live close to if you're looking for days with more significant cooling. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trackerbuddy Posted May 23, 2019 Author Share Posted May 23, 2019 10 hours ago, NegativeEPO said: Wisconsin’s weather is just horrible. Even worse if you live next to Lake Michigan. I guess some people like miserable weather though. Tell us how you really feel, and please don't hold back. That's the problem with humid continental. The real bummer is the cold in the winter doesn't subtract from the heat of the summer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beavis1729 Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 Welcome, and good question. You can find cooler summers in northern WI, even away from the moderating effects of Lake Michigan. Many places north of Wausau have normal highs 75-80 and normal lows in the 50s, even in the heart of summer. This compares to July normals in Chicago of 85/65...and, if anything, downtown is even warmer at night due to UHI and lake temps that are much warmer compared to May/June. Any significant cooling impact from Lake Michigan is generally limited to April through early June. After that, the water temp is high enough where the cooling isn't as noticeable (it's less severe and/or less frequent). As Hoosier said, small lakes don't generally have a significant impact...mainly due to the small size and the fact that smaller bodies of water heat up faster than larger ones. In July and August, there is essentially zero lake cooling, because prevailing winds often come out of the W or SW instead of W/NW/N/NE...and because water temps are warm enough where the lake cooling just isn't very noticeable. And in September/October, there is a warming effect due to the warm lake temps...compared to air temps that are beginning the seasonal decline. Just my 2 cents...although I could be off on some of the details. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trackerbuddy Posted May 26, 2019 Author Share Posted May 26, 2019 I found a wind atlas of Wisconsin from UWM dated 1997 the limits of 20 year old technology are very apparent. One thing is clear, the prevailing winds in the summer are from the south south west. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonger Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 On 5/22/2019 at 10:33 PM, NegativeEPO said: Wisconsin’s weather is just horrible. Even worse if you live next to Lake Michigan. I guess some people like miserable weather though. Well, if you like sunny days in the winter it's better than Michigan. If you like snow, Wisconsin is mostly reliant on system snow, except the very northern 1/5th of the state. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wisconsinwx Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 On 5/22/2019 at 9:33 PM, NegativeEPO said: Wisconsin’s weather is just horrible. Even worse if you live next to Lake Michigan. I guess some people like miserable weather though. I'm really enjoying this week's general weather of 70s and sunny/low humidity while most others in the Midwest are sweating their behinds off. This type of weather is good for most outdoor activities except watersports and swimming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravisWx Posted June 13, 2019 Share Posted June 13, 2019 I don't live in WI, but I've lived a stone throw away from Lake Huron my entire life. I can vouch for how horrible living extremely close to Lake Huron/Michigan can be (weather-wise). For example, we've had maybe 4 solid 70 degree days in Rogers City, MI for all of 2019. Meanwhile, it's been in the low 70's and 80's countless times just 6 miles west of Rogers City. We always end up getting an onshore breeze late morning; which can drop the temp from a comfy 65-68 to 50 instantly until evening. I'm seriously considering moving further inland because of how terrible the "spring" weather has been for the past few years. It's almost the middle of June and I'm still wearing my winter jacket outside. Who wants that?! Sick. Of. It. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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