Annual Climate Trends and Impacts Summary for the Great Lakes Basin

A product of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement – Annex 9

Coordinated by a partnership between climate services organizations in the U.S. and Canada, this product provides a synthesis report summarizing the previous years’ climate trends, events, new research, applications, and related activities in the Great Lakes Region. This product is a contribution to the U.S.-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, through Annex 9 on Climate Change Impacts, and to the national climate assessment processes in the U.S. and Canada. It should be cited as: Environment and Climate Change Canada and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 2024 Annual Climate Trends and Impacts Summary for the Great Lakes Basin. 2025.

2023 Document

Documents will also soon be available at binational.net (currently under review by Environment and Climate Change Canada)

English Version (PDF)

French Version (coming soon)

During the 2024 reporting period, air temperatures were well above normal, particularly during the winter. Annual precipitation totals were near to below normal, but there was significant seasonal variability. Wet summer conditions gave way to a very dry fall and widespread drought. Lack of precipitation in the fall contributed to above-average declines in water levels, with all but one lake falling below the long-term monthly average by the end of November. At 4.3% areal coverage, Great Lakes annual average ice cover in 2024 was the lowest on record.

Contributing Partners

Environment and Climate Change Canada

canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change

Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

glerl.noaa.gov

GLISA, NOAA’s Great Lakes CAP Team

glisa.umich.edu

Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

binational.net

Midwestern Regional Climate Center

mrcc.purdue.edu

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

noaa.gov

Northeast Regional Climate Center

nrcc.cornell.edu

University of Illinois

climas.illinois.edu

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District

lrd.usace.army.mil/detroit

References

O’Brien, N.L., Seglenieks, F., Fry, L.M. et al. Historical datasets (1950–2022) of monthly water balance components for the Laurentian Great Lakes. Sci Data 11, 1243 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03994-7

Hutson, A., Fujisake-Manome, A., Glassman, R. Historical trends in cold-season mid-latitude cyclones in the Great Lakes Region. Geophysical Research Letters Vol 51, Issue 16 (2024). https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024GL109890

Gardner, S. T., Roew, M.D., Xue, P., et al. Climate-induced phenology of larval fish transport in a large lake. Limnology and Oceanography Letters Vol 9, Issue 4 (2024). https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/lol2.10414

Bergstrom, Ryan D. ; Fergen, Joshua ; Johnson, Lucinda B. ; Sterner, Robert W. ; Lenters, John D. ; Twiss, Michael R. ; Steinman, Alan D. “Climate Change: A Bibliometric Study of the Great Lakes Basin.” Journal of Great Lakes Research, vol. 50, no. 3, Elsevier B.V, 2024, pp. 102316-, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2024.102316

Shin, S., Gronewold, A. D., Fry, L. M., Dugger, A., & Kessler, J. (2024). Evaluating surface and subsurface fluxes in hydrological models to advance basin-scale operational water supply forecasting. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 69(11), 1539–1556. https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2024.2378100

Indigenous Climate Resilience Network. 2024 Shifting Seasons Summit: Implementing Climate Resilience. https://www.icrn.us/shifting-seasons/

USDA Midwest Climate Hub. Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change on Midwest Agriculture. https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/midwest/topic/assessing-impacts-climate-change-midwest-agriculture

Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center. May Science Seminar: Rain-on-Snow Responses to Warming and Their Implications for Streamflow and Stream Temperature in the Great Lakes Basin. https://mwcasc.umn.edu/node/1026