Port of Green Bay resumes traffic after high water closure shutters Alpena

Chris Izworski, reporting from Bay City for the Great Lakes Gazette, turns to a significant reopening this week: the Port of Green Bay resumed boat traffic Thursday after being shuttered since April 18 due to high water levels and excessive flow. The Alpena arrived early Thursday morning, marking the first vessel to transit the reopened waterway, preceded by the tug Albert and tank barge Margaret. Port Director Dean Haen confirmed the go-ahead, a relief after weeks of stalled activity on the Fox River system.

The original water-level paragraph has been withdrawn. This legacy edition was imported from a WordPress draft without the underlying gauge snapshot, so its numerical readings and navigation implications cannot be verified from the archived source data.

Marine conditions today remain mixed. A low-pressure trough moving through the Great Lakes is spawning scattered thunderstorms, particularly over Michigan and Huron, with variable southwest winds gusting over 30 knots in spots. Lake Michigan’s waves are running to 4 feet as a thunderstorm complex moves eastward. Superior and Erie should see calmer conditions by evening, but mariners are advised to watch for rapid wind shifts as the system clears.

Meanwhile, Superior’s historic SS Meteor, a 130-year-old whaleback that sits remarkably low in the water, celebrates her birthday this Sunday in her permanent berth as a museum ship. Though no longer bound for the ore docks, the Meteor remains a symbol of Great Lakes maritime heritage, a reminder that not all vessels that shape our region’s character are still underway.