First Alert Weather In-Depth: An icy trend going in opposite directions

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First Alert Weather In-Depth: An icy trend going in opposite directions

The News10NBC Team details breaking News, Traffic and Weather.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – I imagine you are not going to find a lot of folks visiting Lake Ontario this time of the year – for obvious reasons. Most of the time it has been bitterly cold and the amount of ice along the shoreline is increasing. Recent pictures show the ice coverage near the Town of Webster extending out to approximately 40 to 50 feet before you reach open water. The recent trends in cold weather mean it is conducive for ice development.

The temperature for January is running well below normal which will likely continue for the remainder of the month. This downward temperature trend this year is also evident for the Great Lakes waterways. Recent temperature readings show the mercury has fallen into the upper 30s with the nearshore water of Lake Ontario now at 37 degrees. No surprise then about the amount of ice coverage so far this season. Our latest ice coverage chart from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows we are now running pretty close to the long-term average.

However, it is important to note that over the last 50 years, it is apparent there is an opposite trend. Certainly, it varies from year to year, but the long-term average (since 1973 ) for the number of frozen days on Lake Ontario shows it is declining. There are many ingredients that go into this trend, but climate change is a contributing factor.