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 Unsupported navigation implications were withdrawn.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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The Thunder Bay is working the Keweenaw corridor this morning, last reported at 02:12 with an ETA of 14:47 at the Soo Locks. That puts her at the chamber in mid-afternoon, a clean Wednesday run down Lake Superior if the 29.8-inch low sliding east toward Quebec keeps its distance.
She is not alone in the queue. The Calumet, upbound out of Detour, was due at the locks by 08:36. The Joyce L. VanEnkevort and the H. Lee White were both sitting at or near the lock chamber before dawn, downbound, and the Mesabi Miner had cleared the locks just after 01:00. Five vessels moving through one set of locks before sunrise is a workmanlike September Wednesday. Thunder Bay's afternoon slot is the one worth watching from the south shore of Whitefish Bay today.
The Wilfred Sykes was upbound on the Detroit River at 03:32, tracking for Port Huron with an ETA of 10:16 at the Vantage Point. She should be visible from the Blue Water Bridge well before noon.
The Algoma Discovery was downbound through Port Huron at 04:24 and was tracking toward Detroit with an ETA of 10:00 at that waypoint, making a clean run in the opposite direction on the same corridor the Sykes is climbing. Two vessels, same river, same early-morning hour, opposite headings.
Seven ports picked up Robert J. Lewis Pacesetter Awards at the AGLPA conference in Chicago, including Ports of Indiana-Burns Harbor, Port of Monroe, and Port Milwaukee, recognized for increasing international cargo tonnage through the St. Lawrence Seaway compared with the prior year.
Archived NOAA station observations: Lake Superior, Sault Ste. Marie (NOAA station 9076027): 1.847 feet relative to local Low Water Datum, observed 2026-09-01 23:54 local standard time. Lake Michigan, Chicago (NOAA station 9087031): 2.051 feet relative to local Low Water Datum, observed 2026-09-01 23:54 local standard time. Lake Huron, Harbor Beach, MI (NOAA station 9075002): 1.913 feet relative to local Low Water Datum, observed 2026-09-01 23:54 local standard time. Lake Erie, Cleveland (NOAA station 9063053): 2.877 feet relative to local Low Water Datum, observed 2026-09-01 23:54 local standard time. Lake Ontario, Rochester, NY (NOAA station 9052030): 3.199 feet relative to local Low Water Datum, observed 2026-09-01 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 on Lake Michigan today. Light winds and a humid air mass have NWS forecasters calling for areas of fog through tonight, with off-and-on thunderstorms possible as a cold front works through. Lake Huron's cold front may stall across the area Wednesday. Superior's low is tracking east and should reach western Quebec by Thursday morning. Waves are running at 2 feet on Superior, Huron, and Erie; 1 foot on Michigan.
One hundred years ago last November, the City of Bangor ran hard onto a reef near Copper Harbor in a Lake Superior storm while carrying a cargo of new automobiles out of Detroit. The wreck itself was survivable. What followed was not ordinary: salvagers returned in deep winter to pull the cars from the grounded hull, one of the stranger recovery operations in fresh-water history. The Keweenaw Historical Society recently marked the centennial with a framed painting by Upper Peninsula artist Clyde Mikkola, donated to the society's maritime chairman, Mark Rowe.