News - CKNX Radio AM920
Another Reason for Lower Lake Huron Water Level
We know that water levels in the Great Lakes are cyclical and that we've been at the low end of the cycle for the last few years.
But a coastal resources manager with the Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation says even within those cycles there can be some very dramatic fluctuations in water levels.
Geoff Peach says this natural phenomenon is called sloshing or a seiche and it can be caused by either very high winds or a dramatic drop in barometric pressure before a storm.
Peach says the water action is similar to sloshing water back and forth in a bathtub and the drop in levels is so dramatic that a person on a shallow beach can suddenly have twenty to thirty feet of beach that they didn't have previously.
Peach says just like water in a bathtub, when the wind stops, or the barametric pressure returns to normal, the water levels move back and forth and then settle at their previous levels.
The Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation spokesperson says that usually happens within a few hours.
