Great Lakes Climatologies

The description of the typical climate of a particular place, its climatology, is based on observations collected by local weather stations or buoys over many years. In partnership with the Office of the State Climatologist, GLISA developed summaries of this information for select sites (stations), multi-county areas (climate divisions), and each Great Lake across the region. Each summary includes an overview of the climate along with relevant data and graphs. These summaries can help guide local-level climate adaptation decisions. These were formerly GLISA’s Station Climatologies and Climate Divisions.

For instructions on how to use the interactive climatology map, look below

Interactive Climatology Map

How to Use the Interactive Climatology Map

Use the search box below to view the climatology for a specific location (where available), or use the checkboxes to filter the types of climatologies that are shown on the map. Climatologies are available for Climate Divisions (blue outlines), Climate Stations (red dots), and the Great Lakes (wave icon). Click on the map features to show the name and the link to the page, and use the zoom button (+/-) on the map to look at specific locations.

Climate Stations

GLISA developed summaries of local information describing the typical climate of a particular place based on observations collected over many years from weather stations. The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Global Historical Climatology Network Daily (GHCN-Daily) observations provide the data GLISA uses to provide relevant data and graphs summarizing local temperature and precipitation trends. All of the stations available on the map passed GLISA’s quality assurance and control (QA/QC) standards (documentation coming soon).

Climate Divisions

GLISA developed summaries of the observed historical climate for the NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Divisions within the eight Great Lakes states (IL, IN, MI, MN, NY, OH, PA, and WI). Each summary includes an overview of temperature and precipitation from 1951-present to help guide local-level climate adaptation.

Great Lakes

GLISA developed the ‘Sustained Assessment of the Lakes’ to make knowledge about lake levels and ice cover more accessible and extractable for the public. The lake climatology pages synthesize research, observational data, and other information on Great Lakes lake levels, ice cover, and the climate drivers that influence them.