2016 top-to-bottom temperatures in nearshore #LakeMichigan, data recorded by the @ILINSeaGrant #MichiganCityBuoy and visualized by @PurdueCE pic.twitter.com/5wBRYiJY9i

— Two Yellow Buoys (@TwoYellowBuoys) January 20, 2017

Our Michigan City buoy has a lot of sensors on it, but none are quite so popular as the temperature chain.

Every 10 minutes, 17 loggers, all at different depths, record and transmit the average water temperature of the lake.

Using data collected in 2016, Purdue University School of Civil Engineering student David Cannon visualized what happened in the top 45 feet of Lake Michigan, 3.5 miles northwest of Michigan City, Indiana.

The results shows just how variable the nearshore water is: one day it can be warm all the way to the bottom, and a week later it can be very cold way up at the surface.

For more information on buoys, winds, waves, and how they affect water temperature in nearshore Lake Michigan, see Lake Michigan By the Numbers.

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is a part of University of Illinois Extension and Purdue Extension.

The Chicago Cubs versus the Cleveland Guardians isn’t the only Great Lakes World Series happening this October!

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant’s Wilmette buoy (45174) has been pitted against the City of Cleveland’s Cleveland Crib buoy (45176) in the World Series of Buoy Data. The match-up is playing out on Twitter. It’s a best of seven series and will last up to seven days. Questions are posted in the morning and answers are posted in the afternoon. After three days of competition, Wilmette is in the lead 2-1, winning both the highest wave and strongest wind gust recorded between July 1 and October 24 of this year. Cleveland saw the warmest water temperature.

Starting tomorrow: #GreatLakes #WorldSeries of #buoy #data. Meet the players. @greatlakestoday @PurdueToday @ourmaninchicago @EdRussoWSBT pic.twitter.com/45yFoBnJ3p

— Two Yellow Buoys (@TwoYellowBuoys) October 24, 2016

 

Quick reminder of the Rules and Players for the #WorldSeries of #buoy #data. Day 3 today! @ClevelandWater @A4GL @NWIndianaLife @ILINSeaGrant pic.twitter.com/iGW24wo3zs

— Two Yellow Buoys (@TwoYellowBuoys) October 27, 2016

Q3. #GreatLakesWorldSeries of buoy data. Who recorded the warmest water temperature in 2016? Answer later today. #LakeErie #LakeMichigan

— Two Yellow Buoys (@TwoYellowBuoys) October 27, 2016

See the rest of the series play out on Twitter by following @TwoYellowBuoys, and let us know who you’re rooting for in this best of seven series!

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is a part of University of Illinois Extension and Purdue Extension.