Is Lake Michigan a beach or a lake?

Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake entirely contained within the United States. The lake borders Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana. Connected to Lake Huron through the Straits of Mackinac, the two lakes technically behave like one big water body.



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Chicago's entire 28-mile Lake Michigan shoreline is man-made. The original sand dune and swale topography has been dramatically altered. Before American settlement, storms changed the shoreline, either by building up or eroding sand.

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Not only is this lake massive - spanning 307 miles in either direction - but its shores also run parallel, causing unique wave shapes. The shapes of these waves are what contribute to rip tides, which are one of the most dangerous things swimmers can encounter in the water.

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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.

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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.

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Lake Surface Temperature Surface temperatures of Lake Michigan follow a monthly pattern with the warmest temperatures occurring in late summer and early fall and the coolest temperatures occurring in late winter and early spring (Figure 17).

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Though not as warm as the oceans, temperatures of Lake Michigan do rise to the high 60s in July and August to make swimming enjoyable, and definitely refreshing! Rarely do temperatures make it to the 70s, unless air temperatures stay up in the 90's for many continuous days.

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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.

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Lake Michigan in particular is the roughest of the Great Lakes, and poses a major risk to those thinking of taking a dip.

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Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It covers portions of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

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Lake sturgeon are the largest fish in Michigan, and it's not even close. There is a tie for the second-largest fish ever caught in Michigan.

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