NOAA, partners release harmful algal bloom forecast for western Lake Erie
A large summer bloom is predicted
The Lake Erie Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Seasonal Forecast, produced by NOAA and released with Ohio Sea Grant, gives coastal managers, lake users, and drinking water facility operators a general sense of the potential severity of the upcoming bloom season. NOAA is forecasting a large bloom for 2019, with a severity index greater than 7. The index is based on the bloom’s biomass – the amount of harmful or toxic algae – over a sustained period. Last year’s bloom had a severity of 3.6 and the 2017 bloom had a severity of 8.
Read NOAA’s web story (also printed by Ohio Sea Grant) for more information about this year’s forecast and the three-to-five day forecasts that will be issued twice weekly once the bloom begins.
Learn more about the innovative research being conducted at NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab to inform future harmful algal bloom forecasts in this web story from NOAA’s Office of Atmospheric and Oceanic Research.