1

NOAA Technical Memorandum ERL GLERL-95

LAKE MICHIGAN WATER TEMPERATURE DATA

GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN 1947-1990

Michael J. McCormick

Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

Ann Arbor, Michigan

August 1996

UNITED STATES

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Mickey Kantor

Secretary

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND

ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

D. James Baker

Under Secretary for Oceans

and Atmosphere/Administrator

Environmental Research

Laboratories

James L. Rasmussen

Director

NAT OI NAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRAT OI N

U.S.DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
2

NOTICE

Mention of a commercial company or product does not constitute an endorsement

by the NOAA Environmental Research Laboratories. Use of information from

this publication concerning proprietary products or the tests of such products for

publicity or advertising purposes is not authorized. This is GLERL Contribution

No. 1008. NTIS# PB96-2027893/XAB.
3

NOAA Technical Memorandum ERL GLERL-95

LAKE MICHIGAN WATER TEMPERATURE DATA

GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN 1947-1990

Michael J. McCormick

Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

2205 Commonwealth Blvd.

Ann Arbor, MI 48105

internet address: mccormick@glerl.noaa.gov

1. INTRODUCTION

Water temperature data from several sites around the Great Lakes were obtained to determine if

any regional climatic changes or trends could be detected based upon these data sets. The study was

partially supported by the NOAA Office of Global Programs. Site selection was based upon location

and reasonable data access.

This technical memorandum contains data for Green Bay, Wisconsin. Water temperature data are

from the Wisconsin Public Service Corporation's Pulliam power plant in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The

plant is located at the mouth of the Fox River in Green Bay; all data were hand entered into a computer

compatible format by a GLERL student employee, Jeff Pazdalski.

Data are available from 1947 to 1990. The water intake for the plant is located near the surface,

and much of the plant's water supply is probably derived from the Fox River rather than Green Bay.

However, large temperature swings are possible because of the proximity of Green Bay. The water

temperatures were recorded at hourly intervals and then averaged into one daily value. Although data

were recorded at hourly intervals, large data gaps are still present.

The data are plotted and shown in the accompanying figures. Prior to final plotting all data

were checked for consistency and all questionable values were deleted. All missing data are denoted

by -999.

Data files are identified as TM095Dxx.edt where xx identifies the data year. Data are organized into

four columns: month, day, year, and temperature. Although the data are reported to the nearest 0.1oC, a

more reasonable estimate of their accuracy is 0.5oC given all the uncertainties with the raw data.

All data are available in a simple ASCII format. The data files are available from GLERL’s WWW

site or from the anonymous FTP site. From the GLERL home page (www.glerl.noaa.gov), select FTP

server, or point your browser to: ftp://ftp.glerl.noaa.gov/publications/tech_reports/glerl-95.

Although great care has been used in checking these data, mistakes may still be present. If errors are

found, please contact the author at mccormick@glerl.noaa.gov.
4

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 315

Green Bay, WS 1947

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 340

Green Bay, WS 1948

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 359

Green Bay, WS 1949

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 336

Green Bay, WS 1950

Julian Day
5

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 244

Green Bay, WS 1951

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 343

Green Bay, WS 1952

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 327

Green Bay, WS 1953

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 278

Green Bay, WS 1954

Julian Day
6

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 279

Green Bay, WS 1955

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 276

Green Bay, WS 1956

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 322

Green Bay, WS 1957

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 272

Green Bay, WS 1958

Julian Day
7

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 211

Green Bay, WS 1959

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 300

Green Bay, WS 1960

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 287

Green Bay, WS 1961

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 198

Green Bay, WS 1962

Julian Day
8

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 224

Green Bay, WS 1963

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 234

Green Bay, WS 1964

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 334

Green Bay, WS 1965

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 325

Green Bay, WS 1966

Julian Day
9

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 354

Green Bay, WS 1967

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 291

Green Bay, WS 1968

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 294

Green Bay, WS 1969

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 234

Green Bay, WS 1970

Julian Day
10

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 300

Green Bay, WS 1971

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 331

Green Bay, WS 1972

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 269

Green Bay, WS 1973

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 340

Green Bay, WS 1974

Julian Day
11

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 322

Green Bay, WS 1975

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 313

Green Bay, WS 1976

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 318

Green Bay, WS 1977

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 254

Green Bay, WS 1978

Julian Day
12

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 295

Green Bay, WS 1979

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 259

Green Bay, WS 1980

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 320

Green Bay, WS 1981

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 280

Green Bay, WS 1982

Julian Day
13

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 326

Green Bay, WS 1983

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 301

Green Bay, WS 1984

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 188

Green Bay, WS 1985

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 302

Green Bay, WS 1986

Julian Day
14

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 340

Green Bay, WS 1987

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 332

Green Bay, WS 1988

Julian Day

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 282

Green Bay, WS 1989

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

0

10

20

30

Water Temperature (C)

Days of data = 343

Green Bay, WS 1990

Julian Day