Lake Superior reaches record temperature
By Bob Kelleher, Minnesota Public Radio
August 12, 2010 Duluth, Minn. — On another muggy August afternoon in Duluth, the Park Point city beach is again packed. Clara Goellner is one of the three life guards trying to keep an eye on the mob of teens and children splashing away in water that’s typically bone-chilling. But this year, the normally uncomfortably cool surface waters of Lake Superior aren’t so cold, as summer heat is showing up in one of the Minnesota’s colder places. Experts say the lake’s surface temperatures set a new record high this week — and the entire lake likely is warmer than ever recorded. … On Aug. 10, the waters atop Lake Superior reached the highest temperature ever recorded. The lake-wide average surface temperature hit 68.3 degrees Fahrenheit. The average for Aug. 10 is just 55 degrees. … Researchers say the trend for several decades now is clear — ice is forming later on Superior, going out earlier, and like this year, allowing the lake to warm earlier and longer. …
