Great Lakes Daily Ice Observations at NOAA Gauge Sites, 1956-1997

Great Lakes Basin daily visual ice observations recorded yearly from November 1 to April 30 at NOAA/National Ocean Service water level gauge sites. The dataset spans from 1956 to 1997, with the longest records at key river stations like St. Clair, St. Marys, Detroit, and St. Lawrence. It is provided by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

Use Cases

• Analyzing seasonal ice duration using the 'first and last reported ice' dates for each site and year.
• Studying spatial patterns of ice types (open water, solid ice, honeycombed ice, slush ice, windrowed ice, drifting ice, ice gorge) across gauge locations.
• Correlating ice conditions with other hydrological or climate variables using site coordinates and reporting year metadata.
• Investigating long-term trends in ice cover for specific river stations with extended records, such as St. Clair or Detroit.

Strengths

• Provides a multi-decade temporal range covering 41 years of seasonal observations from 1956 to 1997.
• Includes detailed ice condition codes and key seasonal markers (first/last ice) for analysis.
• Contains metadata with site coordinates and reporting years, enabling spatial and temporal coverage analysis.

Limitations

• Not all gauge sites reported data each season, leading to potential gaps in the spatial record.
• Conflicting metadata exists: one source lists a last update date of 1997-04-30, while another lists 2026-03 13, suggesting a data freeze versus a metadata update conflict.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and the complete column schema are not provided by any source.

Provenance

Source

NOAA/National Ocean Service water level gauge sites, processed by NSIDC.

Collection Method

Daily visual ice observations recorded at gauge sites.

Time Range

1956 to 1997, with observations confined to the seasonal window of November 1 to April 30 each year.

Freshness

2026-03-13 01:39:35.500860

Geography

Great Lakes Basin, United States, with specific sites including river stations like St. Clair, St. Marys, Detroit, and St. Lawrence.