GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — It has been nearly five years since Lake Michigan and Lake Huron hit record levels, causing aggressive erosion and damaging several lakeside properties. After five years of steady drops, the lake has returned to average levels and could even stay below the mean this summer.

For the month of April, the average water level for Lake Michigan/Huron — hydrologically, just one lake — was 578.35 feet. That is about 6 inches below the lake’s long-term average and nearly 4 feet below the peak measured in July of 2020.

But what’s the difference between 2020 and 2025? Why do the lake levels fluctuate? Lauren Fry, a research physical scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab, says it comes down to three pr

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