Chilling News: Lake Michigan’s Sudden 20-Degree Drop Sparks Safety Concerns

Lake Michigan is doing some really odd things in 2024. Earlier this year, a strange hot spot was seen just after winter in the middle of the Lake. And NOW, it's doing the opposite at the start of the summer.

Suddenly, in a 24-hour period, the temperature of the lake dropped 20 degrees, and even prompted some concern for summer beach goers and swimmers. What the heck is happening in Lake Michigan?

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Monday, the National Weather Service sent out a warning to swimmers on Lake Michigan near Port Sheldon and South Haven, that the temperature of the water near the shores could be dangerously... COLD!

Meteorologists, and NOAA noticed a sudden 20-degree drop in temperature in the coastal area, and warned swimmers they could suffer from sudden cold shock, or even hypothermia. The temperatures fell form near 70 degrees to almost 50 in that short amount of time.

So what happened?

Actually, this is fairly common when strong storms and wind events make their way across the Lake, and has been reported in the past.

Strong north winds on Sunday, June 30th, pushed warmer surface waters away from the shore, which was then replaced with an "upwelling" of colder, deeper water from the Lake.

While Lake Michigan does become quite comfortable most years in the summer, more often than not, swimmers only ever feel water in the top 10-20 feet of the Lake. Meanwhile, temperatures at the bottom of the Lake remain quite cold in the 40s, which can be dangerous if people were exposed to it for long periods of time.

Meteorologists predict temperatures will rebound over the next few days as south/southwest winds should push warmer surface waters back into the area, but for now, officials are still warning beach-goers to exercise caution when going into the water in parts of west Michigan.