The mild temperatures so far this winter have kept the ice formation at bay across the Great Lakes. Here’s a look at how much ice currently covers each Great Lake.

Lake Michigan at Muskegon on January 19, 2020 (Photo courtesy Luann Shatney)

Lake Superior's current ice cover in red versus the long-term average ice cover.

Currently only six percent of Lake Superior is covered with ice. Long-term average ice cover on January 20 is 17 percent.

Lake Michigan ice cover currently in red and long-term average in blue.

Lake Michigan also has less ice cover than is normally expected. The stats show 12 percent ice cover right now versus a long-term average of 19 percent.

Lake Huron's ice cover has started to increase rapidly, but is still below the historical average in blue.

Lake Huron has actually seen a rapid increase in surface ice development during the last week. Lake Huron still has below average ice cover at 24 percent coverage. The historical average for January 20 is 29 percent. Over the past eight days, ice cover has grown from eight percent to 24 percent.

Lake Erie's ice cover now in red (barely showing) compared to the long-term average in blue.

Lake Erie has an incredible difference between the current ice cover and historical long-term amounts. Currently there is less than one percent of ice cover at a date that normally has 46 percent ice cover.

Lake Ontario ice cover now in red versus the long-term average in blue.

Lake Ontario is only five percent covered in ice compared to normally an 11 percent ice cover.

If you are like me and like maps for a visual, here are two ice maps of the Great Lakes. You will have to look at the legend to see how the maps qualify the strength of the ice.

Lake Superior and Lake Michigan ice cover map.

The red shaded areas are what most would call solid ice. The blue shading around the edge of the lakes is a 10 percent ice coverage, which is not solid ice.

North end of Lake Michigan at Thompson, MI on January 20, 2020 (Photo courtesy Judy Woodburn)

Ice cover diagram for the eastern Great Lakes on January 20, 2020.

Compare the image above from this year to a high ice, cold winter year of 2013-2014.

Ice cover map for January 20, 2014.

With the warmer than average temperatures coming over the next two weeks, ice won’t continue to expand rapidly.