IF YOU’VE DIPPED your toes in Lake Superior lately, you’ve probably noticed that the water is warm. Very warm.
Like 75 or 76 degrees on some beaches on some afternoons. So it’s record warmth?
Nope, according to the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory which tracks such things. You can go back just to 2012 to find warmer lake water.
GLERL measures the surface water all over the lake, not just at the shoreline, and comes up with these numbers:
Lake Superior temperature comparison (July 31st)
2016….63.9 F
2015….52.2 F
2014….51.1 F
2013….52.7 F
2012….67.8 F
So, yes, the lake temperature this summer is much, much warmer than it has been for the last three summers, but it still doesn’t match 2012, at least not yet. Lake Superior usually reaches its peak warmth in early to mid September.
One final note. Some of us might be concerned about algae blooms developing as the lake water warms up. But an official at GLERL says that probably won’t be the case because algae blooms are generally caused by nutrient runoffs from farms on or near the lake, and Lake Superior’s coastline simply doesn’t have many nearby farms.
However, the official does say that as the lake warms up, the fish species may change. Some fish prefer cold water while others prefer warm water, and the lake has been heating up over the last 30 years.
MORE PLAUDITS FOR what is arguably Marquette’s finest–and highest priced–restaurant.
Elizabeth’s Chop House has been selected as one of the best restaurants along Lake Superior by readers of Lake Superior Magazine.
Fitzgeralds in Eagle River was voted the best on the Michigan coast, and the Chop House tied with Harbor Haus in Copper Harbor for second. A hometown opinion says the Chop House deserves to be number one.
Several years ago, Tommy and Elizabeth Wahlstrom took a chance bringing truly fine dining to the UP. Some thought the idea might fail. Too pricey, too precious, too Manhattan, some folks said.
Well, the Chop House is still here several years later, impressing both locals and tourists.
The magazine recogniti0n is just the latest for the restaurant. Mlive recently named it the #3 Best Steakhouse in Michigan, and onlyinyourstate.com rates it the #7 Best Steakhouse in Michigan.
OTHER HONORS FROM the magazine for Marquette:
The Landmark Inn was named both the Best Hotel/Motel/Resort and the Best Romantic Getaway on the Michigan coast.
The Hampton Inn was runner-up for Best Hotel.
The Sweet Water Cafe was runner-up for Best Breakfast.
Zero Degrees Gallery was runner-up for Best Shopping Store, and Marquette was runner-up for Best Shopping District.
Presque Isle was runner-up for Best Place to Watch a Sunset or Sunrise.
And Marquette tied with Mt. Bohemia for Best Winter Destination.
PRAISE ALSO FOR the Upper Peninsula’s biking trails.
This, from Bike magazine which devotes 25 digital pages, along with videos, to our trails in this month’s issue.
A few quotes:
The U.P. is “known for its increasing bounty of singletrack–a secret that its tight knit community of mountain bikers has held close to its collective chest.”
Marquette County is the “undisputed center of Upper Peninsula mountain biking” although the magazine also has high praise for the Keweenaw Peninsula.
The trails here “can support everyone from kids and newbies to advanced rippers seeking new technical challenges.”
The magazine reaches 1.6 million readers monthly. Most of them in all likelihood have never been to the U.P. A fair guess is that this flattering 25 page spread will lure many of them up here in the next few years.
NORTHERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY is making a huge digital leap.
The Federal Communications Commission recently gave the university permission to expand its WiMAX, NMU’s off campus wireless internet system.
Until now, that system has allowed full-time students free access to the Internet and NMU accounts if they lived nearby–in Marquette, Negaunee, Ishpeming, Chocolay, Sawyer, Gwinn, and Houghton.
But the new FCC ruling will expand the WiMAX reach to virtually all populated areas of the U.P. It’ll take about two years to complete the digital expansion.
Continuing education students, and “concurrent” students–high schoolers who are also taking NMU courses–will also have access to WiMAX, at a cost.
NMU has also rolled out an “LTE” network, a new, faster version of WiMAX which currently covers Marquette and Negaunee.
ENOUGH ABOUT TECHNOLOGY. Let’s talk about birds and butterflies.
If you’ve biked or walked along the Iron Ore Heritage Trail between the Visitors Center and the Carp River recently, you’ve seen the newly planted, little gardens.
They’re gardens of milkweed plants, designed to provide attractive stopovers for monarch butterflies during their long migrations across the Great Lakes. Monarch populations are reportedly down 80% in recent years. Kinda scary.
Milkweed seeds were also sent out to more than 5000 residents near Lake Superior for planting on private property.
The project is sponsored by the Superior Watershed Partnership and the city of Marquette, with funding from the US Fish and Wildife Service.
And it’s not just about the monarchs. It’s also about our migratory birds. Over the next two years, the project will also be planting trees and shrubs along the coast, along with other flowering plants, like coreopsis, black-eyed Susans, and coneflowers.
Sometimes Mother Nature needs a helping hand.
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GOTTA LOVE HUGE outdoor murals.
There’s a new one going up at the E-Z Stop party store at the corner of Wright Street and Sugar Loaf Avenue, next to Motions.
The artist is Alanna Hamel of Una Dolce who’s painted other murals in the U.P. The new one at E-Z Stop will portray several classic locations in Marquette County including Sugar Loaf, Wetmore Landing and Little Presque Isle, according to store owner Jim Goodreau.
Goodreau bought the store last year and totally revamped it. The mural is the finishing touch. He wants it to be inviting, he says–something that welcomes motorists as they head into or out of the city.
We need more public art in town. Hamel and Goodreau are doing their parts to help out.
You got news? Email briancabell@gmail.com