For those of you who have enjoyed the beach at Empire Michigan, this year has been tough on the beach, which is now almost gone, and the wall between the parking lot and Lake Michigan is now starting to crumble.

I have been here a few times and it is sad to see.

https://sbsurfandkayak.com/wave-camera/

Never thought about people surfing on the Great Lakes, waves look good...

sure looks like the water is up pretty high. You could surf right into the back of your jeep..

Record high water levels on Superior. I imagine its the same for Michigan.

Record levels on Lake Huron as well. We had a 200' seawall put in this year as the lake was getting way to close to the house. My oldest son was body surfing several times this summer and the two younger ones were booty boarding.

The small boat ramp was closed all summer because the parking lot was under water. As I was putting my boat in at the harbor to the north of us, a woman came up to me and asked me where the beach was. I told her it was under 2 feet of water.

Kayaking to the north and south of the house, I found we had the only beach sand left. Everyone else has the water up into the vegetation on the dune. It's amazing how much it changes. Before the wall was put in, the lake was within 5 feet of where the wall is now. We had onshore winds for a week which pushed the rest of the sand you see up.

Oh my goodness that is bad. Comparing with pictures I took there just last year where there was at least thirty feet of beach. That water is almost in the parking lot.

Even earlier this year, there was 30-40 feet of beach.

Storms that started 4-6 weeks ago really started to take their toll.

The family and I were there at that very beach in late July. The water relationship to the wall did not seem especially dire but this was our first time visiting that beach so I have no basis of comparison. There was a more than adequate spit of sand between the wall and the actual Lake.

We had noticed higher water levels at Haserot beach located on the Mission peninsula this year. Our first visit to that beach in 2018 had seemingly twice the amount of sandy beach available versus what we saw in 2019.

Not to long ago many complained lake levels were to low. They had the ‘experts’ chime in.

I wonder how the Grand Canyon got here? It seems many people can’t think back much more than one year.

https://www.scientificamerican...er-levels-seesawing/

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Never thought about people surfing on the Great Lakes, waves look good...

sure looks like the water is up pretty high. You could surf right into the back of your jeep..

Last winter we had a few days where there were really high winds, which creates huge waves off the beach in Northern Indiana. Being winter, it was between -10 and -20 with wind chill. There were dudes out there surfing...utterly insane.

My family went up to Van Buren state park (Southaven MI) this summer and noticed that the beach, which used to be pretty decent, was pretty much completely under water. It's been a rough year on the shoreline.

It's global warming! Or global cooling. Or something.

I've lived on one Great Lake or another for my whole life. The lakes go in cycles. People periodically panic over low water levels, then respond the same way over high water levels. Fifteen years ago, the lakes were going to run dry due to a hole in the bed of the St. Clair river. Thirty years ago, there was a house mover who made big $$ moving cottages away from the bluff in the Holland area.

The shore line changes. It's been going on for hundreds of years. Unfortunately, slowing the process is really expensive and ultimately it's only a temporary fix. None of which makes anyone feel better when it happens to them.

The water level is high as hell this year! The rain has beat up this area pretty well this year.


On our side of the lake, in the downtown area, the water is up over the lowest part of the bike path. There used to be about 10-15 feet of beach at 12th Street. Now... The water is up to the stairs. No beach at all.

Some of the docks in Burnham were under water at the beginning of the year until they were fixed.
Only 2 or 3 of the public docks in New Buffalo Mi are useable, the other 15 or so are about a foot under water. Even worse when the wind is out of the west.

I'm out on the lake a lot for my side-job. And yes, a few years ago, the level was pretty low.

People often under estimate the power of the Great Lakes. They will kill you, even if you are experienced. Storms blow up out of no where and waves get big fast. This is why it is estimated that there are between 6,000 - 25,000 ships at the bottom of the Great Lakes since 1816. Many of these have never been found, hence the swing in the estimate between found and known lost and just plain disappeared.





Lake Michigan Fog Bank

Those pictures & the calendar signals it’s almost time for that Gordon Lightfoot song. I just can’t change the station when it’s on.

I think all the Great Lakes set records for water levels this year. Next year could go even higher. People on the island near me had to have portapotties delivered. Septic fields were flooded. Several boat marinas were underwater. Waterfront properties have been sandbagging and pumping. Lots of water and no where for it to go. Wipes the shorelines.

Now we get to see what massive ice plates do.

Nothing like the power of the Great Lakes. We have a similar continuing problem on the longest man made beach in the world. In addition to hurricanes and gales, strong south winds push the sand over the highway that runs along the beachfront. Every few months heavy equipment is moving the sand off the road as the beach further erodes. Frequent dredging is done to protect the highway. Various erosion methods have been tried including fencing and planting of sea oats.

I do not own waterfront property, but have friends that are continually rebuilding expensive bulkheads as a result. Expensive to live on the water.

Was out on the lake Friday, looks like it was down about 5-6 inches from the highest point of the year.

But with the nice storm that came through yesterday, and a few more days of rain this week, it's going to rise again.

End of the boating season is always a pain in the rear, this year is going to be worse with the high water, rain, and storms blowing in.

^^^
Curious, what is your side job? As a kid I wanted to be a fishing guide, then I saw how little money they made and who they had to deal with.

1st mate (Gunners Mate as well ) on a Tow Boat.
Basically a tow truck for boats.
We work for TowBoatUS.

I get to spend my day on a boat, out on the lake, on someone else’s boat, with one of my best friends, and I get paid to do it.
(Yeah, I got lucky on this one!)

Lake is a deceptive word. Really more of a sea than a lake. I know a guy that kite surf and he said that the waves out further can get to 20 to 40 feet. I will just take his word for it. But that ‘lake’ can change on a dime. From glass to angry in an hour.

quote:

get to spend my day on a boat, out on the lake, on someone else’s boat, with one of my best friends, and I get paid to do it.
(Yeah, I got lucky on this one!)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Thanks for the update, and for keeping the noise down at Midway. I grew up five miles from there a long time ago.