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Lake Michigan reaches near-record ice coverage in March 2014

Also Beaver Island 92 percent Lake Michigan ice coverage March 2014

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

Locator map: Beaver Island highlighted within the Beaver Island archipelago
Took place at Beaver IslandLocator plate © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0); depths NOAA; names USGS GNIS. How the plates are drawn.
TypeEvent
Dates2014-03-05 – 2014-03-06
WithinBeaver Island
ErasModern era
On this page
Locator map: Beaver Island highlighted within the Beaver Island archipelago
Took place at Beaver IslandLocator plate © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0); depths NOAA; names USGS GNIS. How the plates are drawn.
Event
Dates
2014-03-05 – 2014-03-06
Kind
Weather
Where
Beaver Island
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
weatherenvironmentrecreation
Within
Beaver Island

Summary

The March 2014 Beaver Beacon reports NOAA GLERL’s estimate that 91.8% of the Great Lakes were ice-covered on March 5, 2014, near the February 1979 record. By March 6, Beaver Island snowfall measured 132.5 inches, approaching the Island’s 138-inch record.

Evidence limits

The figures are newspaper-reported NOAA and local observer measurements; this record does not independently reproduce the underlying datasets.

Sources

  1. A participant reposted links to AccuWeather and the Wall Street Journal discussing the unusually extensive Great Lakes ice cover and possible spring-weather effects. This is contextual corroboration and a secondary link, not an independent measurement.
    forum · www.beaverislandforum.com · 07 · t007324
  2. Beaver Beacon, March 2014, "92% Coverage on Lake Michigan."
    Reports NOAA GLERL's March 5 estimate of 91.8% Great Lakes ice coverage, near the February 1979 record, and 132.5 inches of Island snowfall by March 6. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2014-03_Beaver-Beacon
  3. The held March issue scan confirms the weather report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 2014-03_Beaver-Beacon

Added 6 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Lake Michigan reaches near-record ice coverage in March 2014”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-lake-michigan-ice-coverage-2014/, accessed [date], citing Eric N, "Record Great Lakes ice coverage will control spring weather," Beaver Island Forum, April 18, 2014. (and 2 further sources listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-06. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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