Arctic Blast Causes Record Ice Coverage on Lake Erie
Arctic blast (Jan 14-21) increased ice coverage from 2 to 85.
Buckingham noted temperatures 10-25 degrees below average.
Historically, full freeze rare; last in 1978, 1979, 1996.
Lake Erie reached 95.3 ice coverage in late January.
Shoreline communities and wildlife face stress due to 95% ice coverage limiting food access.
Warmup expected Feb 11-17 may reopen open water.
3 weeks ago