Correction: Corrected September 17, 2026: the water-level paragraph now reports the archived NOAA station observations and their limits. Unsupported navigation implications were withdrawn. NOAA measurement context.
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September got its first two downbounders through the Soo before most people set an alarm. Presque Isle cleared the locks with an ETA of 00:11, its last ping logged at 00:01. The Paul R. Tregurtha followed eleven minutes behind on the clock, ETA 00:54, final position report at 00:44. Two of the bigger names in the fleet, through the same chamber, in the same midnight hour that turned the calendar.
Neither vessel announced itself with fanfare. The data just shows two position pings going quiet on the Lake Superior side and two ETAs ticking over on the Huron side. That is how the Soo works at the end of a long August.
The next downbounder in line was Algoma Discovery, rounding Whitefish Point at 3:58 a.m. with a 6:42 a.m. lock ETA. After her, Cinnamon is working the Keweenaw corridor with an ETA of 14:44 this afternoon, which gives riverbank watchers in the Soo a second appointment before supper.
Walter J. McCarthy, last noted queuing for the Soo on August 26, turned up upbound in the Detroit River at 3:23 a.m. today, with Port Huron listed as the next checkpoint at 11:20 this morning.
Saginaw, which we watched end her lay-up and head upbound on Huron a week ago, appeared inbound at the Welland Canal's Port Weller entrance with a 3:17 a.m. ETA this morning.
American Century took one of the last clean-up loads of coal from the Midwest Energy dock in Superior, departing for DTE St. Clair/Monroe. At least one more load of coal was reported remaining at that dock when the Century left.
In Toledo, John J. Boland arrived to load ore for Torco and Algoma Bear arrived to load coal at the CSX dock. In Monroe, New York/Double Skin 509A arrived to unload liquid asphalt at Michigan Paving and Materials. In Sandusky, Kaye E. Barker arrived to load coal at Norfolk Southern.
Archived NOAA station observations: Lake Superior, Sault Ste. Marie (NOAA station 9076027): 1.686 feet relative to local Low Water Datum, observed 2026-08-31 23:54 local standard time. Lake Michigan, Chicago (NOAA station 9087031): 2.182 feet relative to local Low Water Datum, observed 2026-08-31 23:54 local standard time. Lake Huron, Harbor Beach, MI (NOAA station 9075002): 1.775 feet relative to local Low Water Datum, observed 2026-08-31 23:54 local standard time. Lake Erie, Cleveland (NOAA station 9063053): 2.913 feet relative to local Low Water Datum, observed 2026-08-31 23:48 local standard time. Lake Ontario, Rochester, NY (NOAA station 9052030): 3.163 feet relative to local Low Water Datum, observed 2026-08-31 23:54 local standard time. These are individual gauge readings, not lake-wide averages or channel depths. They do not establish vessel clearance, cargo limits or comparative navigability.
Fog is the hazard this morning on Lake Michigan, where light winds and a humid air mass are expected to produce patchy fog again tonight as well. Waves are running one foot on Superior and Michigan, two feet on Huron, Erie, and Ontario. A low near 29.7 inches is drifting east across Ontario toward James Bay by Wednesday, pulling a cold front that the Huron forecast says is likely to stall across the region midweek. Vessels on Huron should plan for that front by Wednesday.
The Keweenaw Historical Society marked the centennial of the City of Bangor wreck on Tuesday, accepting a framed original painting by Upper Peninsula artist Clyde Mikkola. The vessel was carrying new automobiles from Detroit when it grounded on a reef near Copper Harbor during a November 1926 storm. The salvage operation that followed was unusual even by Great Lakes standards: workers pulled cars one by one from a wrecked freighter in January cold. The painting was presented to maritime chairman Mark Rowe and will join the society's collection.