Average annual water temperature on the coast in Lake Michigan is 48°F, by the seasons: in winter 38°F, in spring 38°F, in summer 62°F, in autumn 54°F.
A north-northeast wind has pushed the warmer surface water along the Michigan shore back toward the middle of Lake Michigan and brought up colder water from well beneath the surface. This process is called upwelling.
The blue in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron is sediment brought to the surface when strong winds churned the lakes. The green in Lake Erie and in Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay is algae, which builds on the surface when winds are calm.
Those who brave the frigid feat and swim in the winter are nicknamed “ice monsters.” Lake Michigan continuously cools throughout winter, and with March averaging an annual low of 32.9 degrees, it's the chilliest month for open-water swimming. Yet a growing number of people are taking the plunge.
The lake's formation began 1.2 billion years ago when two tectonic plates moving in opposite directions left a giant scar—an event now known as the Midcontinent Rift. Less than 15,000 years ago, melting glaciers filled the giant basin, and Lake Michigan came to be. The lake's maximum depth is 925 feet.
At the bottom of Lake Michigan, you will find non-fish inhabitants of the lake, such as worms, mollusks, amphipods, and insect larvae. These small creatures provide food for non-native fish such as whitefish, round goby, and perch.
Should you shower after swimming in Lake Michigan? Take a shower: Bathe yourself after swimming in a lake in order to maintain hygiene and stay clean. If bacteria has not entered your body, it may be actively resting on your skin, creating a rash or finding an open cut to infect.
Dreyer is the only person who has swum the width of Lake Michigan between Wisconsin and Michigan, having swum from Two Rivers, Wisconsin, to Ludington, Michigan, in 1998. In the 2023 swim, he was attempting to beat his own record by swimming 25 miles further in the route from Milwaukee to Grand Haven.
The answer is no. Being immersed in, rather than atop, cold water feels different. As fall turns into winter and the thermometer drops, the increasingly cold water starts to feel good, even warm. Wetsuits would only get in the way of this descent into conditions that have become delightful.